Neymar’s return for Brazil against South Korea in the last 16 of the World Cup remains a “possibility,” according to the team’s doctor.

Paris St-Germain forward Neymar is in a race against time to recover from an ankle injury sustained in Brazil’s opening 2-0 win over Serbia.

Assistant coach Cleber Xavier said on Thursday that Neymar, along with injured team-mates Alex Sandro and Danilo were “progressing” and that a decision would be made over their likely return date after the group finale against Cameroon.

Brazil had posted footage of Neymar — who injured his back in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup — doing strength work in the gym and the player himself further raised hopes of involvement on Friday evening as he walked on the pitch at full-time and waved to supporters.

Speaking after a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon that had no impact on Brazil’s progress, team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said of Neymar and Alex Sandro’s chance of playing in Monday’s last-16 game: “We still have possibility. They still have not had chances to train with the ball.”

Lasmar added that he had “high expectation” of Danilo returning to face South Korea but said that Gabriel Jesus and Alex Telles would undergo scans on Saturday after complaining of knee pain.

He said: “We had two medical issues: Alex Telles came off complaining of pain in his right knee after trauma; he has been assessed in the training room (and) tomorrow he’ll do a scan. Gabriel Jesus after leaving the match complained of pain in his right knee (and) we have asked for an imaging exam tomorrow.”

Brazil will take on South Korea at Stadium 974 on Monday, December 5. Kick-off is 7pm GMT (2pm ET, 11am PT).

Source: The Athletic 

BDST: 1234 HRS, DEC 05, 2022
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