Neymar returns to training at Al-Hilal – 09/30/2024 – Sport

Brazilian striker Neymar, 32, announced his return to group training at Al-Hilal, almost a year after suffering a serious knee injury.

He signed for the Saudi Championship team in August 2023 after leaving PSG. The Brazilian, however, suffered a serious injury to the cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee a few weeks later, on October 17, in Brazil’s 2-0 defeat to Uruguay, in a qualifying game for the 2026 World Cup. .

“I’m happy to be back in the group,” Neymar wrote in Portuguese on his Instagram account, accompanying the text with several photos on the field with his teammates and Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus.

The player, who receives an annual salary of 100 million euros (R$607 million) – according to the European press – had been training separately since July.

His return to competitions depends on technical preparation and the coach’s decision, he told an Al-Hilal official to AFP, who requested anonymity.

The club has not yet included Neymar in the list of players participating in the local championship, which started in August, but he is on the list for the Asian championship, which has also started.

The absence of the Brazilian star did not affect the results of his team, which won the last national championship, establishing a historic series of 34 consecutive victories in different competitions.

His return to group training is hopeful news for the Brazilian team, with poor results since the 2022 Qatar World Cup, in which they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Croatia.

The national team coach, Dorival Júnior, warned last week that the top scorer’s injury was not “simple”.

“We’re going to wait, we’re going to be patient. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t come back in October, November or even February,” he said in an interview.

To return, “he has to be confident, playing and fully recovered”, he added when announcing his call-up for the qualifiers against bottom-placed Chile and Peru in October.

Much criticized and with disappointing football, the team occupies fifth place in the qualifiers, with ten points in eight games, on the verge of the play-offs.