I Spent a Very Difficult Night: Neymar Feared End of World Cup After Ankle Injury in First Match

Neymar was back for a brilliant performance along with his Brazilian national team for a 4-1 victory of absolute destruction over South Korea. The super striker, after the match, where he also managed to put his name on the scoresheet, admitted that he was afraid of his World Cup being over.

The 30-year-old forward had earlier injured his ankle in Brazil’s inaugural match against Serbia after being tackled by the opposing players. This had made Brazil fans worldwide wail as they feared that Neymar’s much anticipated World Cup campaign was over without him having any impact.

However, he ended all the doubts about his performance as he recovered very quickly and just in time for Brazil’s crucial round of 16 match and even put his name on the scoresheet after scoring a penalty. With that, he scored his 76th goal in the Brazilian colors. Neymar is one goal away from matching Pele’s 77 goals for Brazil.

Vinicius Junior, who plays for Spanish giants Real Madrid, Tottenham’s Richarlison, and West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, were among the other players who marked their names as scorers in this hoodoo of one-sided domination against Son Heung Min’s South Korea.

Brazil was ranked as the number one team to be lifting the World Cup in Qatar and was the fan favorite around the globe. But after injuring a few crucial players, their position seemed shaky.

But after Neymar’s comeback and their absolutely dominating victory, which stormed them to the Quarterfinals, their campaign to hoist the Cup is back on track.

“After I was injured, I spent a very difficult night,” Neymar described his fears. “I was thinking bad things, and I was afraid of not being able to play in the World Cup again.”

“I took strength from messages of support when I could find none. The way I can say thank you is through my performance. I would like to thank God for the strength I have to be back on the pitch. I am very happy to be back. I am happy that I played well.”

The Paris Saint-Germain star also expressed his happiness of coming out unscathed from their knockout match against South Korea and said that he was fit to fight against the Croatian front in their battle for semi-finals this coming Friday.

“I did not feel any pain in my ankle and was content with my performance and our performance. But we cannot be 100 percent satisfied – we need to grow as a team. I want to do everything I can to help the team win this tournament – that’s our mission, that’s our dream.”