Neymar, presented with great fanfare on Saturday by his new club Al-Hilal, arrived in Saudi Arabia slightly injured and is unable to train, according to club coach Jorge Jesus, who was surprised of the player’s call-up to the Brazilian national team. “He arrived with a minor injury and will not be able to train with the team yet. I don’t know when he will be fit enough to play,” the Portuguese coach said on Saturday at a press conference after his team’s draw against Al-Feiha (1-1) in the league.
The former star of Paris Saint-Germain, triumphantly welcomed a few hours earlier by tens of thousands of supporters in the Roi-Fahd international stadium, watched the match from the stands. Jorge Jesus’ statements came the day after Neymar was called up for Brazil’s first qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. The Seleçao will start their campaign against Bolivia on September 8, at home.
“He cannot play for the Seleçao. He is hurt. I think he shouldn’t even go to Brazil (…) He has to recover from a muscular problem to start playing, and that’s what he does well, ”said Jorge Jesus. “The medical department of the Brazilian men’s football team has been monitoring Neymar’s state of health for several days,” the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) replied in a press release quoted by the local press. “The technical commission is aware of the situation and is in permanent contact with the player to follow the evolution of his condition”, adds the CBF, which specifies that the summons of the players is only planned in a fortnight, and that any new information on a player’s state of health “will be communicated in due course”.
The 31-year-old Brazilian striker played his last match with PSG on August 3, scoring two goals and providing an assist against Korean club Jeonbuk Motors (3-0) in a friendly. Neymar had made his return on the club’s pre-season tour of the capital in Asia after five months out with an ankle injury picked up in March.
