The news shocked the Brazilian team when doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed that star Neymar would not be able to recover from his injury in time to attend the 2024 Copa America taking place from June 20 to July 14, 2024.
“It’s still too early to determine, but skipping important steps to recover from Neymar ‘s injury in time for the 2024 Copa America hardly helps. Our expectation is that he will be ready to return to competition.” match at the beginning of the 2024 European season, which is around August,” Mr. Rodrigo Lasmar, Brazilian team doctor, said on Radio 98 (Brazil) on December 20.
Neymar bids farewell to Copa America 2024, seriously affecting the Brazilian team’s chances of winning the championship.
AFP
If this is true, Neymar has no chance to participate in Copa America 2024. This 31-year-old star is playing for Al Hilal Club in the Saudi Pro League (Saudi Arabia), but suffered a serious injury while playing for Brazil team in the match against Uruguay (lost 0-2) on October 18 in the 2026 World Cup qualifier for South America.
Neymar was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his left knee. He underwent successful surgery in early November at a hospital in Belo Horizonte City (Brazil). Since then, this star has entered the recovery phase, but the situation is not as positive as information from doctor Rodrigo Lasmar just announced.
“Neymar needs a very long process to fully recover from his injury. Only with us, along with physiotherapists, fitness coaches… can we help him return soon. However, this process requires We have to be cautious. We don’t want to skip important steps just to let Neymar attend Copa America 2024, because that could lead to worse consequences,” Dr. Rodrigo Lasmar shared.
Neymar’s long-term absence also caused Al Hilal Club to suffer huge financial losses
AFP
Neymar joined Al Hilal Club in the Saudi Pro League in August 2023 for a transfer fee said to be 90 million euros. This star is also paid salary and expenses by the wealthy club in Saudi Arabia for commercial contracts with a total fee of nearly 200 million euros/year.
But this former Barcelona and PSG star has only played 5 matches, got injured and has been out of action until now. Al Hilal Club has now removed Neymar’s name from the team list for the 2023 – 2024 season.
Meanwhile, without Neymar, the Brazilian team is performing poorly. They have lost 3 recent consecutive matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and have only had 1 draw since the beginning of October. Selecao is currently ranked 6th in the regional qualifiers. South America with 7 points after 6 matches. At Copa America 2024, the Brazilian team is in Group D with Colombia, Paraguay and the 6th team in the CONCACAF region (Costa Rica or Honduras).
