Football is in luck. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Mogi das Cruzes, 1992) is back. “What I love most in life is playing football. I suffer every day that I can’t do it. That’s what hurts the most,” ‘Ney’ confessed to announce his return.
A return that is now real. The former Santos, Barcelona and PSG player has reappeared 371!!! days later. On October 18, 2023, in Brazil’s defeat against Uruguay (2-0), he suffered the most serious injury of his career: he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee.
It was made to wait. It was difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but Neymar has reappeared, with victory, against Al Ain (4-5), current champion, in the Asian Champions League. It was the 77th minute when the Brazilian, with the score at 3-5, replaced Nasser Al Dawsari.
It is worth remembering that the former Barça player can only play in the Champions League and the Cup, since Al Hilal, taking advantage of his long-term injury, did not register him in the League in order to sign the eight foreigners over 23 years of age with whom he account on payroll: Bono, Lodi, Koulibaly, Cancelo, Rúben Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Mitrovic.
Neymar, who saw how his team was left with 10 due to the expulsion of Al Bulayhi in the 82nd minute, came close to scoring in the 87th minute with a cross shot that came off the post.
The match will go down in history for a curious milestone, beyond ‘Ney’: there were two hat-tricks, one per team. Soufiane Rahimi for Al Ain and Salem Al Dawsari, formerly of Villarreal, for Al Hilal.
Also worth highlighting in Al Hilal was the goal that opened the scoring, the work of former red and white Renan Lodi. The Brazilian received from Mitrovic to make it 0-1 with a cross shot in the 26th minute. Another ‘old acquaintance’ of LaLiga, Joao Cancelo, assisted Milinkovic-Savic in the second.
