LUSAIL, Qatar — Neymar was pictured in tears on the Brazil bench after leaving his team’s 2-0 win over Serbia to begin their World Cup campaign in Qatar on Thursday, after picking up an injury to his right ankle.
He will now have to wait between 24 and 48 hours to find out if he will play again at this year’s World Cup, according to team doctors.
The Brazil forward was subjected to nine fouls throughout the game by a physical Serbian side and was replaced by Antony in the 80th minute after spending some time on the ground at the Lusail Iconic Stadium following a hard tackle by Nikola Milenkovic.
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Neymar was treated with ice packs by team trainers on the bench and was seen limping toward the Brazil locker room after the win.
In a statement to the media at the end of the game, Brazil’s team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said that it is still too early to judge how serious Neymar’s injury is.
“Neymar has an injury on his right ankle, a direct trauma,” Lasmar said. “Due to the impact from the knee of the Serbian player, we started immediate treatment on the bench.
“He continues with the physio, but now need to wait 24-48 hours for a better assessment. There is no MRI scan scheduled, but tomorrow we will make a new assessment. We need to wait and cannot make any premature comments.
“He felt this pain throughout the game, but chose to stay on the pitch to help his team for 11 minutes after his injury. It’s remarkable that he did this.”
When asked if he had a replacement in mind, however, Brazil coach Tite said he still believed Neymar would play again in Qatar.
“We are confident that he will continue playing in this World Cup,” Tite said.
The 30-year-old was visibly distressed when he walked to the substitutes’ bench and appeared to be in tears before covering his face with his shirt.
While no definitive prognosis has yet been made on the extent of his injury, the anxious wait for a diagnosis is a reminder of the injury which forced Neymar out of Brazil 2014, when a fractured vertebrae following a challenge by Colombia’s Camilo Zuniga ended his competition at the quarterfinal stage.
There is also concern among Neymar’s teammates over his fitness, with Antony saying: “It’s a worry, right? But we don’t know what happened yet. We know how important he is, as the star he is.”
The 30-year-old Neymar has yet to win a major title with the national team. He helped Brazil win the 2013 Confederations Cup and their first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
With 75 goals for the national team, he is two shy of Pele‘s scoring record.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
