Neymar is back in action after a year on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward made his comeback in Al-Hilal’s 5-4 win over UAE Pro League side Al-Ain in the Asian Champions League.
The 32-year-old Brazil superstar came on for the injured Nasser Al-Dawsari in the 77th minute with his team leading 5-3 thanks to Salem Al-Dawsari’s hat-trick and goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Renan Lodi.
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The Legend @neymarjr is back 🤩💙 pic.twitter.com/vLOqb1UuZ0
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) October 21, 2024
He then came close to scoring after a counter-attack late on, before Al-Ain pulled one back in stoppage time with a penalty from Soufiane Rahimi, who also bagged a hat-trick.
“I feel good, it’s so hard. I always have a good team. But I’m so happy. I’m back,” said an emotional Neymar after the game at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium.
Neymar had not played for a year after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during Brazil’s qualifier against Uruguay in October 2023.
He underwent surgery last November.