On the road to full recovery in Saudi Arabia, Neymar, 32, who is returning from almost a year of absence due to a torn ligament, could be entering the final stretch of an already colourful career.
READ MORE
++ When will Brazil announce its squad for the World Cup qualifiers?
++ When does Neymar’s contract with Al Hilal expire?
++ When will Neymar return? See the new expected return date
In football, there are good players, very good players, and then there are the cracks, the geniuses. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known as Neymar Jr., or more commonly called Neymar, is undoubtedly part of this third category, that of geniuses, of those who make us see football differently.
There are few who apply to this caste, which is to say how much the return that is looming of the child prodigy of Brazilian football, dubbed and adopted by fans around the world, is good for the football world, which really needs its genius, even if he is dressed in blue in a distant continent near Al Hilal.
Neymar: resilience personified
When we mention the name Neymar Jr., we surely think of the countless defenders he has left on the sidelines on the green field, but more than a whimsical striker, Neymar is more than 350 goals scored in his career, and more than 200 pancakes distributed to his teammates. Wherever he has been, whether in Brazil, Spain, France or with the Brazilian national team, Neymar Jr. has always been efficient, while remaining true to himself, with a game made up of everything good that Brazil has to offer in terms of dribbling, one-on-one and others.
His merit of being alongside Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on the list of current legends of this sport is not stolen, and his return to the scene after 271 days of absence promises to be thunderous, because at almost 33 years old, even if we have not yet had the right to get an idea of his state of form, given that he has not yet taken part in a match since, the fact that he is on the downward slope, physically, of his career is perhaps unequivocal, or perhaps not.
Already, his fitness, due to a career with multiple injuries (14 with more than two weeks of unavailability), has always been questioned, and Neymar has always proven that he has lost none of his brilliance, whether at Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona or even at his beginnings with Al Hilal where he had a successful debut (5 matches, 1 goal, 3 assists), he who was once again coming back from muscular problems, contracted this time with PSG before his transfer. His character, which has always pushed him to come back, should do even better this time around.
Neymar semble très affûté ! 💪
Crois-tu à un retour du Ney ! 🤔 pic.twitter.com/mhxCxG4P8R
— Foot Mercato (@footmercato) August 20, 2024
When is Neymar Jr. expected to return?
Neymar’s return to competition should not be long in coming. The fact that he has already resumed indoor and grass training with his teammates during this month of August indicates that he should officially return to competition no later than the end of December. No date has actually been communicated for his actual return.
Finally, regarding his long-awaited return to the national team, he may be a little short for this next FIFA date which will take place at the beginning of September, where the Seleção will face Ecuador consecutively at home (07/09) and Paraguay away four days later, and all this within the framework of the AM-SUD qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, where Brazil is 6th in the ranking with only 7 points collected in 6 games played.
Neymar’s return to the national team should also do him a lot of good, and that’s all we’re waiting for.
Originally written by Karim Sefiani
