Brazil were sweating on the fitness of Neymar on Friday after he underwent a first set of tests on the ankle he sprained in the World Cup win over Serbia.
The forward suffered the injury in a collision with Nikola Milenkovic during the second half of the 2-0 victory in Brazil’s opening match in Qatar on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain player attempted to continue but was substituted with about 10 minutes to go, shortly after Richarlison had scored his second goal to secure Brazil’s victory.
The Brazilian football federation (CBF) said in a statement: “Neymar Junior and Danilo underwent examinations on Friday afternoon. The two players went back to the hotel to continue their treatment with the physiotherapy service.”
Right-back Danilo is believed to have an ankle strain.
Brazil’s next game is against Switzerland on Monday, with their final Group G match against Cameroon next Friday.
Coach Tite was optimistic after the win against Serbia that the Paris Saint-Germain star would be back to lead Brazil’s bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup crown.
Neymar was limping at the end of the win against Serbia / © AFP
“You can be certain that Neymar is going to play in the World Cup,” Tite said, adding that the attacker had initially stayed on the pitch after hurting his ankle “because the team needed him”.
Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said after the game it was too early to jump to conclusions.
“We need to wait 24 to 48 hours to have a better assessment,” said Lasmar.
“We have not scheduled any MRI (scan) and tomorrow we’ll have a new assessment.
“We need to wait, we cannot make any premature comments about his evolution.”
Brazil struggled to impose themselves in the first half against Serbia before Richarlison poked home from close range shortly after the hour mark and then produced an acrobatic finish to double the lead.
– Injury-prone –
Neymar’s career has been peppered by injuries which have impacted on his previous two World Cups.
In 2014 he suffered a fractured bone in his back in the quarter-final win over Colombia, meaning he was sidelined when the hosts were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals, losing 7-1.
Four years later he raced to recover from injury in time for the tournament in Russia, but Brazil never hit the expected heights before losing to Belgium in the last eight.
The former Barcelona star, who has 122 caps for Brazil, also missed the 2019 Copa America after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle.
In 2021 Neymar was out for about 10 weeks of the French season after suffering ligament damage to his left ankle.
This time he arrived fit and firing in Qatar after a fantastic start to the season with PSG, in which he has scored 15 goals in 20 games.
Neymar needs just two goals to equal Pele’s all-time record tally of 77 for the South American nation.
Brazil boast an impressive array of attacking talent including Raphinha, Richarlison and Vinicius Junior and they were able to bring Rodrygo and Gabriel Jesus off the bench against Serbia.
But Neymar, who is playing in his third and possibly last World Cup, is the player who makes the team tick.
