Despite his recent injury, Neymar has been tipped by many to be the star player of the 2018 World Cup
Neymar fractured a bone in his foot while in action for Paris Saint-Germain in February, only returning to action in Brazil’s recent warm-up games in preparation for Russia.
On Sunday evening, he made his first competitive start to a game since the injury, but was unable to inspire his country to victory in their tournament opener against Switzerland. Despite taking the lead against Switzerland thanks to Philippe Coutinho’s screamer, a second half equaliser from Steven Zuber saw the game finish at 1-1.
It was a difficult evening for Neymar, who was on the receiving end of some rough treatment from the Swiss players. By full-time, he had been fouled ten times.
After the game in Rostov, the 26-year-old was spotted hobbling – enough to raise concerns he may not feature in Brazil’s next game.
Neymar hobbling through mixed zone
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) June 17, 2018
This comes after Tite, the former Barcelona star’s national team coach, admitted Neymar was not fully fit.
Speaking before their World Cup opener, he said:
“Neymar is not 100 percent yet, but he is privileged and strong physically.
“He is very quick, and he hasn’t lost that. I hope he’ll be ready, but the medical staff knows better. He’s good enough to play very well.”
Neymar’s fitness is again expected to be assessed by the medical when the Brazil side return to their training base in Sochi. It already appears reasonable to assume that there are doubts as to whether he will feature in his country’s next game – against Costa Rica on Friday.
Four years ago, Neymar top-scored for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup, hosted by the South American country. Despite this, he broke a bone in his back during the quarter-final victory over Colombia, ruling him out of the rest of the tournament.
