The ’10’ of Paris Saint-Germain underwent surgery on his right ankle on March 10 in Doha, the same one that reduced his participation in the World Cup. Although the surgery was successful, the 31-year-old probably won’t play for the rest of the season.
His loss in the friendly against the revelation team in the last World Cup at least gives him room to reflect on his continuity with the five-time champions, after at the World Cup he once again questioned the future of his international career.
“I do not guarantee 100% that I will return, I need to analyze, think a little more about what is good for me and for the national team,” he said, visibly beaten after losing in the quarterfinals in December against Croatia.
The foul confirms a trend that has also weighed down his club career: the difficulty for coaches to have a talented player, whether for physical or disciplinary reasons.
In the ‘Seleção’, he was absent in 21 (38%) of the 55 matches played after Russia-2018, including the six in the Copa América-2019, eight of the 17 in the South American qualifier against Qatar and two of the five in the World Cup. .
interim selector
While he was on the field, he became indispensable by scoring 19 goals and polishing a ‘Canarinha’ team that, led by Tite, broke numerous records but did not seduce the Brazilians. Even so, his critics are not few.
“The players have always been better at their respective clubs in Europe than wearing the national jersey. They hardly had to work hard in the weak South American qualifiers and they didn’t convince in the main World Cup matches,” wrote Robson Morelli, editor of the Estadão de Sao Paulo newspaper. .
“Of all of them, Neymar carries the greatest weight, and it is so because he is the best of all. He always accepted that responsibility, but neither did he deliver what was expected of him,” he added.
Without ‘Ney’ or proper technical director, after the departure of Tite after the World Cup failure, Brazil will begin to reinvent itself in Tangier against Morocco, a semifinalist in Qatar, to try to end a drought of more than two decades without lifting the Cup .
It will be the only game that will be played on the FIFA date.