Neymar Suffers Another Injury Setback for Al-Hilal

Neymar of Al-Hilal reacts after an injury during the AFC Champions League Elite match between Al-Hilal and Esteghlal at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Nov. 4, 2024. Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

Neymar’s return to the soccer field could be short-lived.

The charismatic Brazilian forward suffered a leg injury in his second game with Saudi Arabia club Al-Hilal after missing the past year with a torn ACL. Neymar entered the game to much fanfare in the 58th minute in Al-Hilal’s match with Esteghlal of Iran in the Asian Champions League Elite match.

However, Neymar had to leave the game in the 87th minute after grabbing the back of his right leg in the penalty area. Al-Hilal cruised to a 3–0 victory, but the focus is Neymar’s health moving forward.

After the game, he expressed optimism that the injury would not be long-term.

“I felt like a cramp but very strong! I will do exams and hope it’s nothing more,” he wrote on social media. “It’s normal for this to happen after 1 year, the doctors had already warned me, this is why I need to be careful and have more minutes to play.”

Neymar is one of the greatest players to come out of Brazil, one of the greatest soccer nations in the history of the game. He scored 138 goals in 230 professional games for the legendary club Santos FC, which developed Pele, regarded as one of the best players in the history of soccer.

He then moved to Spanish powerhouse Barcelona where he scored 105 goals in 186 games. He also was part of the team that won the Champions League in 2015. Neymar won a gold medal in the Olympic games hosted by Rio in 2016.

In 2017, Neymar signed with French power Paris Saint-Germain and led the club to the Champions League final in the summer of 2020. However, he battled through injuries over the latter part of his career, but still scored 118 goals in 173 matches for the Paris club.

Neymar signed with the Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in August 2023. The most serious injury setback occurred in his duties for the National Team. In October 2023, Neymar suffered a devastating knee injury in Brazil’s CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.

That setback kept him out for more than a year, and he finally was able to return to the pitch on Monday for at least a brief forward. The hope is that Neymar will not be out for an extended time.

Despite Neymar’s absence, Al-Hilal remains in first place in the Saudi Pro League with 25 points, just ahead of Al Ittihad (24 points), and Al Nassr (19 points).

After the game on Monday, Neymar appeared upbeat despite the latest injury.

“Great game from the team, very happy to be back playing at home ... and thank you for the love from the fans!!” Neymar wrote on social media hours after the match. “Now it’s time to recover. ... We remain firm and strong.”