Vincius Junior’s Brazil will face Kylian Mbapp’s France at Gillette Stadium this Thursday, March 26, in a friendly in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup. However, another aspect, Neymar’s absence, is also attracting attention.
The Brazilian star was not called up by manager Carlo Ancelotti as he is not “100%” fit due to a muscle strain, which raises doubts about his participation in the World Cup. Now, it was Vini himself who defended Ney.
Vinny sends a message to Karet
Verde Amarella will face France and Croatia (March 31 at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium) ahead of soccer’s biggest tournament, where the five-time champions are always favorites for the title.
However, the Real Madrid star preferred to take a more modest approach, telling a press conference ahead of the match against France: “Based on the qualifying results, Brazil are not favorites. We don’t want to be favorites. We want to be calm, patient and focused on what we are working on…We will do everything we can to win the title.”
Meanwhile, Vigny also addressed the absence of the Santos FC icon, admitting that he hopes to see him at the World Cup, although the final decision rests with Carlo Ancelotti.
“Neymar is one of my biggest idols. He is doing his best to be 100% fit and return to the Brazilian national team,” Vini declared first.
“The decision is up to the coach, but we always want to play with the best players and Neymar is one of them,” he said.
The truth is that Neymar has missed two of Santos’ last four games. He missed the game against Mirasol due to a muscle strain caused by overuse, and although he played in the remaining two games (against Corinthians and Internacional), he and his coach decided not to play in the match against Cruzeiro to avoid the risk of further serious injury.
True to his style and words, Carlet warned not just Neymar but all his players that he would not start if he was not in top form, which was why he left out the former PSG player.
This resulted in a slightly longer absence from the national team, and he has not played for Canarinha since sustaining a knee injury in the South American qualifying match against Uruguay on October 17, 2023.
There are only 16 games left before the World Cup to prove on the field whether he is fit for his final tournament at Verde Amarella, but Neymar is battling injuries and time to ensure his place on Ancelotti’s final roster.
For this tournament, Brazil will be placed in Group C along with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland. They will make their debut against Morocco on Saturday, June 13th at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. They will then face Haiti at Soldier Field in Philadelphia on Friday, June 19th, and Scotland at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Wednesday, June 24th.
