It’s easy to get cynical about the Brasil Global Tour sponsored by Chevrolet, which is simply adspeak for the series of globetrotting friendlies that the Seleção contests in between Copa Américas, World Cups and World Cup qualifying.
In the preposterously bloated football calendar, nobody likes a meaningless friendly. But what’s Brazil supposed to do during the international break with no qualifying stage for the 2020 Copa América and with 2022 World Cup qualifying matches not beginning until March of 2021?
And who knows, maybe every penny that’s earned by the Brazilian Football Confederation is put back into grassroots development, right? We can l̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ dream.
Regardless, we can all agree that manager Tite has perhaps the greatest net to cast in all of international football, especially so when attempting to give domestic-based players an opportunity to showcase themselves in the canary yellow.
Matches against Senegal and Nigeria in Singapore represented massive chances for the likes of Gabriel Barbosa, Everton, Matheus Henrique and Marcinho. But for Neymar, who collected his 100th cap against Senegal last Thursday, what do these matches mean?
The answer has become obvious over the last two years: another opportunity for the 27-year-old to spend an extended spell on the sideline.
It began with a groin injury against Cameroon back in November of 2018, one that would eventually lead to a 25-day spell on the treatment table. Then, against Qatar back in June, he suffered a ruptured ankle ligament which forced him to miss the Copa América and the start of the new campaign.
Yesterday, the PSG ace lasted all of 12 minutes against Nigeria before being forced off with a hamstring complaint. According to PSG, Neymar has suffered a Grade 2 hamstring tear and will miss four weeks of play.
This rules the forward out of two Champions League matches (home and away to Club Brugge) and Ligue 1 games against Nice, Marseille, Dijon and Brest. With that timeframe in mind, he should be ready for PSG’s Nov. 26 trip to play Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Still, after starting the season with four goals in five league matches (three of them serving as game-winners), you could understand PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi taking his anger out on a door again.
Neymar was booed extensively against Strasbourg then he did this in injury time. pic.twitter.com/ZsdHBh8IEl
— Michael Oti Adjei (@OtiAdjei) September 14, 2019
According to MARCA, here’s Neymar’s injury nightmare over the last few years.
- January 16, 2014: Ankle injury, 32 days
- April 17, 2014: Foot injury, 25 days
- July 3, 2014: Spine Injury, 32 days
- August 1, 2014: Sprained ankle, 7 days
- December 7, 2015: Thigh muscle problem, 7 days
- December 10, 2015: Thigh muscle problem, 11 days
- January 21, 2016: Thigh muscle problem, 7 days
- December 5, 2016: Thigh muscle problem, 7 days
- March 9, 2017: Leg muscle problem, 7 days
- September 21, 2017: Physical problem, 4 days
- November 2, 2017: Physical problem, 11 days
- February 26, 2018: Metatarsal fracture, 90 days
- November 21, 2018: Adductor complaint, 25 days
- January 24, 2019: Foot injury, 85 days
- June 7, 2019: Ankle ligament rupture, 90 days
- October 13, 2019: Hamstring injury, 28 days
We just want to watch the man play, even if that means keeping him under lock and key until the Champions League Round of 16 begins.
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