Neymar could take four to six weeks to return to playing football at a high level, according to orthopedist Maurício Leite. The Santos and Brazilian national team striker suffered a calf injury on the 17th, the day before Brazil’s 26 athletes were called up for the World Cup.
In other words, if the recovery period is the longest according to the specialist, the player would only be available to the team in the second phase of the World Cup, starting on June 28th.
Therefore, it is very difficult 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.
This Thursday (28), the team’s doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, stated that the problem with the player’s right calf is much more serious than the player himself and Santos said.
The tests carried out by the Brazilian team’s medical department showed a grade 2 injury, which means that there was a partial rupture of the muscle fibers, not just an edema, as previously stated.
“He introduced himself yesterday [quarta] here at Granja Comary. You took all the exams here, as well as the additional 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.
HAS Sheet Orthopedist Maurício Leite stated that the expectation is that the striker will be released for training in two or three weeks, but, to play at a high level, he must be fully ready in four to six weeks, starting from the day he was injured.
According to Leite, muscle injuries are graded according to severity. In grade 2, diagnosed in Neymar, there is partial damage to the muscle fibers. “There is not just a stretch”, says the doctor, who performs surgeries at the Hospital SOS Mão e Ortopedia, in Recife and is a full member of the Brazilian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology and the American Society of Orthopedic Surgeons.
“It will be necessary to undergo rehabilitation treatment with physiotherapy and some rest so that he can be with the team for the World Cup”, he says.
André Pedrinelli, orthopedic doctor and president of the Brazilian Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine, explains that in grade 2 injuries, up to a possible 20% of muscle fibers can rupture.
“Clinical evolution depends a lot on the athlete’s age, size and location of the injury or dominant kicking leg or not and whether it is a new injury or recurrence or whether there are other injuries”, he states.
Pedrinelli explains that there are several treatment methods, ranging from the use of medications, progressive and controlled load of exercises, orthobiologicals, hyperbaric chamber, conventional physiotherapy, myo-fascial release and others.
According to orthopedist Maurício Leite, there are therapies that can try to speed up the process a little, with the expectation that he will be able to play in three to five weeks.
“However, to be ready to play at a competitive level, at high performance, as he was used to and as Brazil needs to perform what is necessary and be world champion, the time is a little longer. Therefore, he should be released for training in two to three weeks, but to effectively return to games at a high level, the estimated deadline is four to six weeks.”
In addition to clinical assessments, he states, monitoring can be done with thermography and ultrasound.
When he was injured, 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 the 20th, 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 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.
