Injury scare for Neymar as Brazil star makes early exit against Nigeria

A potential hamstring problem ended Neymar’s involvement during the early stages of Brazil’s friendly against Nigeria.

The Paris Saint-Germain star did not appear to be in much discomfort but reached for the back of his left leg as he made his way off the pitch after 12 minutes of Sunday’s game in Singapore.

He was then seen in conversation with a member of Brazil’s staff on the bench at the National Stadium.

Philippe Coutinho replaced the 27-year-old, who won his 100th international cap in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Senegal.

1T 11min – Substituição na #SeleçãoBrasileira

 ENTRA: P. Coutinho
 SAI: Neymar Jr.

 0-0  | #BRAxNIG #JogaBola pic.twitter.com/VqNuL50G3I

— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) October 13, 2019

An ankle injury forced Neymar to miss this year’s Copa America on home soil and he only returned to action for PSG a month ago, with his reintroduction to the team delayed in part by his widely reported desire to engineer a transfer back to former club Barcelona.

The forward made his first appearance of the season and spectacularly scored the winner in the Ligue 1 victory over Strasbourg on September 14.

Further goals followed against Lyon, Bordeaux and Angers before he headed to Asia to link up with Tite’s squad.