Every four years, the FIFA World Cup showcases a collection of the best soccer players in the entire world all on one big, prominent stage. But on Thursday afternoon, the World Cup lost one of its star players when Brazilian star forward Neymar suffered an absolutely brutal injury to his ankle.
During Thursday’s match against Serbia, Neymar was fouled a shocking nine times in just 80 minutes – the most of any player in the World Cup so far.
It was certainly a tough and hard-fought match for Neymar, who was the focal point of Brazil’s attack in the 2-0 win over Serbia. And the soccer world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
What people should be complaining about instead of whining about players flopping. This is not the first time Neymar has been fouled at ridiculous rates, and this is how players get injured. They need to have stronger rules to prevent targeting players this way. https://t.co/mhdXJbZqtI
— Erica Pishdadian (@ericapishdadian) November 24, 2022
Every game. This is why he exaggerates https://t.co/pfShiPQiST
— Spencer Morgan (@spencermorgan93) November 24, 2022
Ngl a lot of the time he takes one touch too many, get he needs more protection from refs but he invites these challenges a bit too much https://t.co/RpGuLYPX7T
— A1
(@A1ZH4RY) November 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/regbower/status/1595928078269939712?s=20&t=bQDwIdsnx_LR56OO8OwNSg
a whole murder attempt & no protection for him only for him to get injured & substituted
https://t.co/tJYa4EA3kA — j
(@maangoprint) November 24, 2022
As a result of one of the fouls, Neymar suffered an ankle injury that could potentially sideline him.
“Neymar has an injury on his right ankle, a direct trauma,” Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said, according to ESPN. “Due to the impact from the knee of the Serbian player, we started immediate treatment on the bench.
“He continues with the physio, but now need to wait 24-48 hours for a better assessment. There is no MRI scan scheduled, but tomorrow we will make a new assessment. We need to wait and cannot make any premature comments.
“He felt this pain throughout the game, but chose to stay on the pitch to help his team for 11 minutes after his injury. It’s remarkable that he did this.”
The world now awaits his status going forward.
[ESPN]