Neymar missed Santos' weekend game for the 10th time in 11 years that he has missed a match around his sister Rafaella's birthday.
Rafaela Santos celebrates her birthday today, March 11, and "somehow" Neymar seems to always have an unspecified muscle injury or suspension to coincide with it, The Sun writes. There is no indication that the Brazilian striker did it on purpose. Neymar's absence from matches around his sister Rafaella Santos' birthday has been a regular occurrence since 2014.
Neymar will not be available for Santos' trip to Corinthians in the Campeonato Paulista semi-finals on March 9.
Neymar wrote on Instagram: "I just wanted to be on the pitch today and help my teammates... but last Thursday I felt uncomfortable, which prevented me from playing today. We did the test this morning, and I felt the same again! Unfortunately, this is part of football... Today didn't work out, but we will come back stronger to fight for our goal!".
Santos coach Pedro Caixinha has defended Neymar: "Our commitment is to do everything in our power to prevent Neymar from getting injured. And some discomfort is not an injury. He is not in the best condition to perform. Now, we will not create a problem where there is no problem."
Neymar suffered a serious injury blow in 2023 when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament after moving to Al-Hilal and barely played for the Saudi Arabian club. However, those problems appear to be behind him, with Neymar appearing in seven of Santos' seven games since returning to his boyhood club in late January.