Mueez Ajao
– Neymar has been ruled out of Brazil’s next two World Cup games after sustaining ligament damage in his right ankle, says their team doctor.
– The 30-year-old forward was replaced in the 80th minute of Thursday’s 2-0 win over Serbia after a heavy tackle from Nikola Milenkovic.
– Neymar sat with his face covered while receiving treatment and pictures showed his right ankle was swollen.
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– Right-back Danilo will also miss the next two games with ankle damage.
– Brazil face Switzerland in their second Group G game on Monday (16:00 GMT), before playing Cameroon next Friday (19:00 BST).
– “Neymar and Danilo went through a MRI on Friday afternoon and we found ligament damage in the ankle of both of them,” said Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.
– “It is important to be calm and evaluate day by day. The idea is to recover them for the rest of the competition.”
– Speaking after the win against Serbia, Brazil head coach Tite said they were “confident Neymar will continue playing in the World Cup” and that he “didn’t see he was injured – the capacity he has to overcome it tricked even me”.
– The Paris St-Germain striker has suffered a number of injury problems with his right foot over the past few years.
– He missed the 2019 Copa America after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle and was out for several weeks in 2021 with a similar injury.
– Neymar was fouled nine times during the game against Serbia, drawing four more free-kicks than any other player at this year’s World Cup so far.
