NEYMAR, A SHADOW IN SHAPE OF HOPE

For his first match since his injury on February 25, Neymar made a remarkable comeback with La Seleçao on Sunday. Even though he and his national team are cautious about his physical abilities.

The time trial is launched. And Neymar seems ready to win it. All Brazil can push a sigh of relief, the most expensive player in the world is back. Sunday, the international auriverde has pushed back the crampons, more than three months after his injury in the fifth metatarsal of the right foot against OM (February 25 last). In the face of Croatia, it was a question of reassuring oneself about the sensations. But the PSG player has done better: he was decisive in the final success of his team.
"Three months that I was waiting for this moment" Neymar Jr.

While the Seleçao waded in a first period without soul, the coach Tite decided to bring his star to the break. And Neymar changed everything. Entering Fernandinho's place to bring dynamism, the Brazilian initially seemed shy. Before letting go for good. The high point ? This action in the 69th minute. Shifted by Coutinho, he embarked on a slalom of which he has the secret. A feint, two feints in the Croatian defense, then a shot under the bar have capsized the happiness of the Brazilian fans present at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool. The person expressed his relief after the game: "It was three months since I was waiting for this moment. I worked a lot. It was three painful months.

Hurrying after his goal to come into the arms of Rodrigo Lasmar, the doctor who operated on him last March, the former Barcelona remains cautious about its state of form: "I still have some fear, a some fear but, little by little, it's better. With each training, I release myself a little more ". It is still too early to say that the player seems on the right track, especially since his coach, Titus, also remains cautious: "I will not rush anything. He came back to a level well above what I expected. He's going to have the ups and downs he had in training before getting back to his level in the third or fourth game. " This match against Croatia is therefore a first step towards the path that leads the star of La Seleçao to this long-awaited World Cup and the first match of the competition against Switzerland on 17 June.
Brazil seems Neymar-dependentNeymar knows he is expected, he who had been sparkling four years ago at the Mondail at home, with four goals and a decisive pass until the quarterfinals. The rest, we know it. An injury to a vertebra and a whole people who cried his absence during the defeat against Germany in the semi-final (1-7). It is indeed to make forget this nightmare that the Brazilian people looked forward to find its jewel. Like four years ago, Brazil seems more than ever dependent on the shape of its 25-year-old nugget.