He came to this World Cup on a promise.
Standing on a stage in Brazil earlier this year, microphone in hand, Neymar made his country a pledge that stopped the room.
“We are going to do everything possible, even the impossible, to bring this World Cup back to Brazil,” he said. “If we reach the final, I promise to score.”
On Thursday night in Philadelphia, as Brazil prepared to face Haiti in their second group game, Neymar was not with them. He was in a hotel room in New Jersey, watching, waiting, and recovering.
The Brazilian Football Confederation confirmed that Neymar would not travel with the squad for their Group C match against Haiti.
Neymar instead remained instead at The Ridge hotel in New Jersey to complete the final stage of his rehabilitation at the hotel’s facilities and the nearby Columbia Park training centre.
The 34-year-old has been recovering from a calf injury suffered while playing for Santos in May, just one day after Carlo Ancelotti named him in the World Cup squad to widespread excitement.
The injury list Neymar carries into this tournament is long and painful
He has not played for the national team since a 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Uruguay in October 2023, a match in which he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.
Also he damaged his meniscus, requiring surgery and keeping him out for the best part of two years.
A stint at Santos back in his home country brought fresh hope and then another setback.
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer with 79 goals, one more than the great Pelé.
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He is also the most decorated Brazilian footballer of his generation.
Yet here he is, at what is almost certainly his last World Cup, watching from a hotel corridor while his teammates take the field without him.
Ancelotti has not given up on him
“Neymar is working very hard to recover as quickly as possible,” the coach said. “The expectation is that he can rejoin training next week. His technical quality is indisputable, as is the experience and example he provides to the rest of the group.”
Brazil still have a match against Scotland in Miami on June 24, their final group game, giving Neymar one last window to make it onto the pitch before the knockout rounds begin.
He promised to score in the final. He just needs to make it onto the pitch first.
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