Coach Carlo Ancelotti stated on Saturday morning (30) that he is not considering the possibility of cutting Neymar out of the World Cup. The 34-year-old striker appeared for the Brazilian team with a muscle injury in his right calf, but will be kept in the group while he works towards recovery.
“To be clear: he will be with us until the day he recovers and becomes available. We think he could be recovered for the first game of the World Cup. If he cannot recover for the first game, he will recover for the second game”, said the coach, in an interview given before the green-yellow team’s training at Granja Comary, in Teresópolis.
“We have no doubt that we will not change anyone. The chosen players are these 26, and these 26 will play in the World Cup. Unfortunately, Neymar had this small problem that does not allow him to train with the group, but he is working very well on an individual level”, he added.
The player felt a calf problem in his last match for Santos, on May 17, the day before Brazil was called up for the World Cup. The club said it was just edema, an accumulation of fluid between the muscle fibers. The CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) exams, however, showed a grade 2 injury, with partial rupture of the fibers.
Doctor Rodrigo Lasmar stated on Thursday (28) that the recovery period was two to three weeks. Brazil’s debut at the World Cup will take place on June 13, therefore 16 days from the moment the diagnosis was presented. “We think he will recover quickly,” said Ancelotti.
The coach repeated countless times over the last year that whether or not Neymar would be called up would be based on his physical conditions. He even stated that he would only have “100%” players in the group. Asked about the apparent contradiction in maintaining an injured athlete, he tried to justify himself.
“I talked about this in March, I probably didn’t explain it well. I said I could call up a player who wasn’t 100%, but who could be 100% at the World Cup. Unfortunately, Militão, Rodrygo and Estêvão won’t be 100% for the World Cup. But Neymar could be 100%,” he declared.
Asked if he would have called up the player if he had been aware that he had a grade 2 calf injury, Ancelotti smiled. “You know what they say in Italy? ‘If my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a car.’ Neymar was among the 26 when I arrived at the Museum [do Amanhã, onde foi anunciada a lista]”, he stated.
