The problem with Neymar’s right calf is much more serious than the player himself and Santos said. Exams carried out by the Brazilian team’s medical department, in Teresópolis, showed a grade 2 injury, which means there was a partial rupture of the muscle fibers, not just edema.
The extent of the injury was disclosed by the national team doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, on Thursday morning (28). Before the scheduled interviews with Casemiro and Weverton at the Granja Comary training center, the professional made a statement, with no room for questions.
“He presented himself here yesterday at Granja Comary. He took all the exams here, also the complementary exams [em uma clínica de Teresópolis]with an MRI. A grade 2 calf injury was identified, not just edema. The player remains in treatment. The expectation is that it will be released within two to three weeks,” said Lasmar.
It is very difficult, therefore, for Neymar to be available to Carlo Ancelotti at the start of the World Cup. Brazil’s debut in Group C will take place on June 13, 16 days from Thursday. After this match against Morocco in East Rutherford, the team will face Haiti on June 19 in Philadelphia and Scotland on June 24 in Miami Gardens.
The situation caused a lot of discomfort among the directors of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) and the technical committee. It was clear to them that the player and also Santos were not honest regarding the injury, which occurred on the 17th, the day before the festive call-up of Brazil’s 26 athletes for the World Cup.
At the time, Neymar complained a lot when he was substituted in the black and white team’s 3-0 victory over Coritiba, at the Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo. There was a mistake on the sign displayed by the refereeing team, and number 10 ended up leaving, saying he was able to continue on the field.
“I took a blow in the first half. I was going to leave, but Escobar felt it, and I said: ‘I can stay, I can stay'”, he stated, shortly after the match. The following day, his name was announced by Ancelotti at a lavish event at the Museum of Tomorrow. He then published a series of videos celebrating the call.
The athlete has not played since. On Wednesday (20), he was left out of Santos’ match against San Lorenzo, for the Copa Sudamericana, when a whole mystery began about his real physical conditions. The injury was treated as an edema, that is, an accumulation of fluid between the muscle fibers.
Last Tuesday (26), Neymar was in Vila to watch Santos’ match against Deportivo Cuenca. Surrounded by microphones and asked about the problem, he quipped: “What’s the problem?” He heard, of course, that the subject was his calf. “It’s here, in one piece,” he replied sarcastically.
When asked about the topic, the Santos doctors pointed to a “confidentiality contract” and treated the matter superficially. Unofficially, there was talk of an edema of two millimeters. The CBF only said that it was waiting for the player – and everyone else – for examinations at the group’s presentation.
They were carried out on Wednesday (27), when it was already clear that the situation was not exactly as portrayed on the coast of São Paulo. Aware that an MRI would most likely be necessary, the team’s doctors booked a clinic in Teresópolis, where the striker was taken while the other athletes trained at Granja Comary.
They were carried out on Wednesday (27), when information was already emerging that the situation was not exactly as portrayed on the coast of São Paulo. Aware that an MRI would most likely be necessary, the team’s doctors booked a clinic in Teresópolis, where the striker was taken while the other athletes trained at Granja Comary.
Inside and outside the training center, the topic was Neymar’s calf. The CBF then released a note announcing that “complementary exams” were being carried out at a clinic. “No other information will be released until the end of the evaluations by the Brazilian team doctor”, said the text.
So, on Thursday morning, when Casemiro and Weverton were expected, the CBF communications team also appeared for the interview with Rodrigo Lasmar. It wasn’t two millimeters, and the veteran is unlikely to be available at the start of the World Cup. There are those who bet that it will be cut.
