Brazil fear Neymar’s FIFA World Cup could be over amid uncertainty over recovery: Reports
Brazil are sweating over Neymar's fitness and there's a sense of trepidation in their camp that he could miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup altogether, according to The Mirror.
The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) ace went off injured in the side's opening game against Serbia and was subsequently ruled out of the rest of the group-stage fixtures. He was supposed to return for the knockout rounds but now, there are fears that his tournament could already be over.
Reports emerging from South America suggest the forward will also be sidelined for his side's last-16 clash, which could be against any of Portugal, Ghana, South Korea or Uruguay.
Neymar is out injured for the rest of the group stage... 😫 https://t.co/YQnO5ykRCS
There is concern that Neymar's injury could be more serious than originally expected, as the player could have suffered ligament damage instead of a sprain their medics first diagnosed.
If that's indeed the case, the former Barcelona star will be ruled out for another three weeks and could only feature in the final, should his team make it that far.
Neymar's return has been consistently deferred as he is currently limited to only rehabilitation and conditioning work in the pool. He is currently unable to resume serious training with the rest of the squad yet.
To make things worse, the 30-year-old was also forced to watch Brazil's victory over Switzerland from his hotel room after falling ill instead of witnessing it from the stands.
Brazil looking to seal Group G with Cameroon win
Brazil are currently leading Group G with six points in two games and need just a draw against Cameroon on Friday (2 December) to seal the top spot, unless Switzerland fail to beat Serbia in the day's other game.
Tite's men are heavy favorites to down Cameroon, although the African side displayed immense fighting spirit in their 3-3 draw with Serbia by fighting back from a two-goal deficit.
Brazil believe in number six 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 https://t.co/nsX9K1ttiJ
This gave the Indomitable Lions a ray of hope as they remained in contention for a last-16 spot. However, must do the unthinkable for that - beat the mighty Brazil.
The problem is, Cameroon have lost all five of their previous encounters against the five-time world champions, including a 4-1 defeat in the group stages of the 2014 World Cup.