Neymar's ACL injury compounds troubled start to his next chapter as Ronaldo, Messi thrive
The Hindu
Neymar's tears after ACL/meniscus tear contrast Messi's smiles in Miami & Ronaldo's success in Portugal. Neymar's injury history includes 2014 World Cup & 2020 Qatar. Messi & Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or duels overshadowed Neymar. He moved to Saudi Arabia in Aug. & Ronaldo to Al-Nassr in Dec. Messi's Inter Miami & Ronaldo's Portugal success, but Neymar's Al Hilal move has been limited by injury. Despite Pele record, Neymar still in shadows of Ronaldo & Messi.
In what has become an all-too familiar sight, Neymar left the football field in tears after yet another injury — this time with a torn ACL and meniscus.
Quite a contrast to Lionel Messi's smiles at Inter Miami and Cristiano Ronaldo's reenergised success with Portugal.
Neymar damaged his left knee in the first half of Brazil's 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss at Uruguay on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the extent of the injury was confirmed by his Saudi club Al Hilal, which said he would undergo surgery.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a knee to the back from Colombia defender Juan Zuniga in the quarterfinals ruled Neymar out of the tournament with a fractured vertebra. Then last year in Qatar, there were more tears when Neymar feared an ankle injury would cut his tournament short. Instead, it was a loss to Croatia in the quarterfinals that prematurely ended his bid to win football's biggest trophy.
Ronaldo and Messi turned the Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player into a personal duel at the height of their powers. But the pair recently left elite European football behind, with the 31-year-old Neymar also heading to the Saudi league after years of being in the shadow of two of the sport’s greatest ever players.
Along with Messi and Luis Suarez, Neymar may have been part of a Barcelona forward line that won the Champions League in 2015, but he was never the main man.
Even his record 222 million euro ($270 million) move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 did not provide the platform for him to step out in front of Ronaldo and Messi as he failed to lead the French club to a Champions League title. Instead, it was PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe who emerged as the player most likely to establish himself as soccer's next icon.
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