Neymar may not be able to play against Cristiano Ronaldo in December after picking up an injury while on international duty with Brazil.
Neymar was stretchered off the pitch in Montevideo during Brazil’s 2-0 defeat by Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. He went down holding his knee and screaming in pain after a challenge from Nicolas de la Cruz.
The concern on the faces of his team-mates was obvious, but Brazil’s team doctor Rodrigo Lamar urged caution, telling reporters: “We did all the tests and we will repeat them tomorrow. Those 24 hours are key to see how his knee will respond, how swollen it will be and what images will show. Let's wait for the exams with calmness, evaluate with calmness and tell you once we have a diagnosis.”
Brazil captain Casemiro told Globo: “Let's hope it’s nothing serious. He's an important player for us; we're very fond of him. He's been suffering a lot from injuries and when he starts to pick up the pace he gets injured again.”
Neymar was taken off in the first half shortly after Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez had given Marcelo Bielsa’s side the lead. De La Cruz added a second after the break from Nunez’s cut-back to secure victory for Uruguay and ensure their first win over Brazil since 2001.
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Injury to Neymar comes as a blow for his club side Al-Hilal, who shelled out £77million to sign him from Paris Saint-Germain in August. The 31-year-old forward is earning around £2.5m per week with the Saudi Arabian side, who could now be without their star player for an extended period.
He has contributed one goal and three assists in five games so far and could now miss a showdown with Cristiano Ronaldo. Al-Hilal are scheduled to host Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on December 1 in just over six weeks’ time.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar are the two biggest stars in the Saudi Pro League (Francois Nel/Getty Images)These are the kinds of games that the Saudi Pro League wanted when, powered by the country’s Public Investment Fund, they splashed out huge money to land world stars. Al-Hilal spent more than £60m on Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly, while Brazilian star Malcom set them back over £50m and there was also a big-money move for Lazio and Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Al-Hilal, who are managed by Jorge Jesus, are currently top of the Saudi Pro League, having won seven and drawn two of their nine matches. Al-Nassr are third, four points behind, with Ronaldo leading the goalscoring charts with 10 strikes in eight appearances this season. Steven Gerrard ’s Al-Ettifaq are down in seventh place, despite being able to call upon Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Moussa Dembele and Demarai Gray.
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