Neymar set to undergo surgery on knee injury and will miss Ronaldo showdown
Neymar is set to undergo surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus while on international duty with Brazil.
The 31-year-old went down during the first-half of Brazil's 2-0 defeat against Uruguay after challenging Nicolas de la Cruz for the ball. Neymar was taken off on a stretcher as his side ended up losing at Montevideo thanks to goals either side of half-time from Darwin Nunez and De la Cruz.
It has now been confirmed that Neymar could be out for the rest of the season after sustaining a ACL injury and meniscus tear. Al-Hilal posted a statement on social media, which read: "Medical examinations revealed that Al-Hilal player Neymar Jr. suffered a tear in the cruciate ligament and cartilage. He will undergo surgery later, and a treatment program will be determined for the duration after the operation. Come back stronger."
It is unclear how long Neymar will be out for, but the ex-Barcelona forward will undoubtedly miss Al-Hilal's crunch clash against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in December. Al-Hilal are also set to face Al-Ahli, who have Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez among others in their armoury, later this month.
After Brazil's World Cup qualifying defeat in Uruguay, captain Casemiro told Globo: "Let's hope it’s nothing serious. He's an important player for us; we're very fond of him. He's been suffering a lot from injuries and when he starts to pick up the pace he gets injured again."
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Neymar will also be in a race against time to be fit for next summer's Copa America, which is held in the United States from June 20 until July 14. He has one goal and three assists in five games so far for Al-Hilal since his £77million move to Saudi Arabia from Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Al-Hilal are currently top of the Saudi Pro League, having picked up seven wins and two draws from their nine matches so far. They are the one current unbeaten side in the division and also boast the likes of Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly and Aleksandar Mitrovic in their squad.
Neymar suffered a knee injury in Brazil's loss to Uruguay (PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images)It has not been all plain sailing for Al-Hilal, however, after manager Jorge Jesus issued a passionate rant at Navbahor after their 1-1 draw in a AFC Champions League game. He said: "It was an abnormal game. We are prepared to play against closed opponents, but what the other team did today goes against football.
"They were constant wastes of time, which made my players lose focus. The game was difficult, if you can call it a game, because the team we faced was repeatedly wasting time and breaking the rhythm, and I'm not used to playing against this type of team.
"I've been a coach for 35 years and I've never seen anything like this, a team wasting time like Navbahor. They didn't come in to play football. All they did was anti-play, successive fouls and wasting time and the referee didn't control the situation. Our draw, it didn't come from their defensive discipline, but from something far removed from football." Since that match, Al-Hilal have won four and drawn one from their five matches.
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