- Neymar suffered yet another injury blow in a career beset by physical issues
- Santos star came off the pitch in tears with what seemed to be a thigh problem
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The sight was a sad and familiar one – Neymar exiting the pitch in tears after yet another injury.
On Wednesday evening, with the 33-year-old in action for boyhood side Santos, he pulled up with what appeared to be a thigh problem.
Neymar lasted 34 minutes and buried his face in his shirt to dry the tears following his latest setback.
It was supposed to be a night of celebration for the Brazil forward, who wore the number 100 on the back of his shirt to commemorate his 100th home game for his boyhood club.
But the joy turned quickly to despair when he was forced off against Atletico-MG.
Neymar only returned from his last injury on Sunday when he came off the bench against Fluminense.
Neymar shed some tears after being forced off with yet another injury on Wednesday evening
Neymar was supposed to be celebrating 100 games for Santos and wore a special shirt
Former Brazil team-mate, Hulk, came over to console him and he had only just come back
It seemed as though he may have rushed back too soon, playing with heavy strapping on his leg and appearing to struggle with his thigh issue that had ruled him out for six weeks.
Former Brazil team-mate, Hulk, was playing for Wednesday’s opponents and consoled Neymar as he was loaded onto the medical cart.
Santos boss César Sampaio told ESPN afterwards: ‘It’s still too early, we don’t have a diagnosis. That will be done tomorrow.
‘It’s a very important loss. We have to pray that it’s not something that will cause him to be absent for a long time.’
The former Barcelona and PSG man has only played eight times for Santos since re-signing, but that is still once more than the seven matches for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, the club he signed for in 2023 for £77.6million.
He has struggled for consistent game time since rupturing his ACL and tearing the meniscus in his left knee in October 2023.
Those injuries kept him out for a year and according to Transfermarkt, the latest setback is the 42nd time he’s been kept out of action by either injury, a knock or lack of fitness.
Santos went on to overcome his absence by winning 2-0 but will hope their star man and captain is not sidelined for another lengthy stretch.
