SAO PAULO — Neymar‘s troubled path to the upcoming World Cup narrowed additional after his subdued efficiency for Santos in a 1-1 house draw in opposition to rival Corinthians in a Brazilian league match on Sunday.
It was Neymar’s final sport earlier than Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti broadcasts his squad for 2 key friendlies on Monday, and he mentioned after the sport that regardless of how a lot he wished to be with the nationwide staff, the choice was lower than him.
“I want to return to the nationwide staff and play within the World Cup, however that is lower than me,” a disillusioned Neymar instructed journalists after the match in Santos. “Whether or not I’m there or not, I’ll all the time cheer for Brazil.”
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time prime scorer with 79 objectives.
Brazil’s matches in opposition to France and Croatia in america will, in flip, be the 2 final video games earlier than Ancelotti broadcasts his remaining squad in Could for the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19.
The 34-year-old Neymar’s efficiency in opposition to Corinthians got here after he missed a match that the Brazil coach attended.
Memphis Depay opened the scoring on Sunday for Corinthians within the nineteenth minute on the Vila Belmiro Stadium. Gabriel Barbosa equalized 4 minutes later.
Neymar’s finest probability in Sunday’s sport was a second-half header that narrowly missed. The Santos striker struggled with ball at his toes and did not have a shot on purpose.
Two staffers of Brazil’s soccer confederation attended the match in Santos, the membership mentioned.
Ancelotti has mentioned he’ll solely take gamers who’re 100% match to the event in america, Mexico and Canada. He has additionally prompt that some gamers want no testing, which retains Neymar with some hopes of creating the ultimate squad even when he’s not picked for the following two friendlies.
Neymar suffered an ACL harm in October 2023 and went by one other knee surgical procedure in December. He has performed lower than 10 matches for Santos this yr, however he has additionally proven glimpses of what he might nonetheless convey to Brazil.
In February, he broke into the highest 10 of Santos membership’s all-time main scorers after scoring twice in a 2-1 win in opposition to Vasco da Gama within the Brazilian league.
Followers of Neymar worry that his choice to miss a match in opposition to Mirassol on Tuesday, in one other Brazilian league sport, might need taken him out of his fourth consecutive World Cup.
Native media reviews mentioned Ancelotti was not knowledgeable in regards to the striker’s absence till a couple of hours earlier than the sport on the 19,000-seater José Maria de Campos Maia Stadium.
Data from The Related Press was used on this report.
