Carlo Ancelotti put an end to the speculation on Friday. Neymar will be an option for Brazil’s upcoming friendly against Scotland, the head coach said after Brazil’s win over Haiti.
The 10 shirt didn’t even make the trip to Philadelphia for that Haiti match. He stayed back in New Jersey to keep working through a right calf problem that’s kept him out since May 17.
Here’s the timeline Ancelotti laid out at his press conference: Neymar trains individually Saturday. Then on Monday he joins the full group. And by game time against Scotland he should be ready to go.
It’s been a weird stretch for the star forward. He originally picked up some swelling in that calf while playing for Santos back in mid-May. Brazil called him up anyway thinking it would settle down. It didn’t. A follow-up scan confirmed a lesion that basically meant three weeks without touching a ball in practice.
No need to rush it
Honestly Brazil didn’t need him against Haiti. They handled that one just fine without their best player. But Scotland is a different test. Ancelotti clearly wants to get Neymar some actual minutes before the real tournament games start. Friendlies like this are the whole point of getting the group together early.
There’s been some chatter online about whether bringing him at all was smart given the injury history. But the Brazilian medical staff signed off on the call-up and they’ve been managing the load carefully since. No setbacks so far.
For what it’s worth Neymar looked sharp in the limited training he’s done since arriving in camp. Teammates have said his touch is still there and he’s been in good spirits despite not being able to play.
Scotland will likely see him for at least a half if everything goes according to plan Monday. Ancelotti didn’t say whether he’d start or come off the bench. That probably depends on how Saturday’s individual session goes.
One thing that’s clear: Brazil isn’t taking chances with their talisman. They’ve got bigger goals than a June friendly. But getting him on the field for some rhythm before the real action starts matters a lot.
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