“Gonna grab this kid”: Neymar celebrates return after 369 days

Neymar was in good spirits. “I’m going to catch this baby! ” said the Brazilian superstar with a smile as he laughed with his little daughter in the hotel hall – and he managed to do that too on this free evening. Soon after, Neymar held little Mavie in his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Dad is back!

After an incredibly long 369 days after a torn cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee, Neymar was back on the field on Monday night. The 32-year-old came on as a substitute in the 77th minute of his Saudi club Al-Hilal‘s stunning 5-4 Asian Champions League win over defending champions Al-Ain (United Arab Emirates) – and immediately he seemed to be an old man. again.

The Selecao’s highest player went into an opponent after a good dance and also showed his goal threat, goalkeeper Khalid Eisa denied him a goal and thus a fairy tale return with fingers. Nevertheless, the return was exactly as “Ney” had announced: he would certainly not return “half-heartedly,” he said a few days ago.

One year break due to injury

In an emotional video, he re-shared with his 225 million Instagram followers the dark hours of his long-overdue emergency breakup. “Just now,” that is in September 2023, he had surpassed “King” Pele’s goalscoring record in Brazil, “and then this happened”! He suffered the serious injury on October 18, 2023, in a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay (0-2). “Football is my favorite thing in life,” said Neymar, “Every day that I can’t play is a day of suffering.

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That’s over now, next one Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr) The biggest star of the Saudi sports washing league is back! And he can finally pay back his rumored annual salary of $80 million​​​​​​​after just six games so far with one goal and three assists. However, only in the premier class and the cup, not in the league: he is only eligible to play there from January. So there is plenty of time to catch little Mavie. (side)