Neymar makes Brazil comeback after 17 months while Feyenoord’s Paixão drops out

Neymar is set to make his comeback in the Brazilian national team, as Voetbal International reports. On Thursday, the Brazilian national coach Dorival Júnior announced the names of the players who will face Colombia and Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers in just over two weeks. Feyenoord’s Igor Paixão made the preliminary selection but has now been dropped.

Neymar was out of the Selecão for almost 17 months. The national team star struggled with injuries at Al Hilal and fell out of favour with both Dorival and his predecessor Fernando Diniz. His last international match was on October 18, 2023, when Brazil lost 2-0 to Uruguay.

Earlier this year, he returned to boyhood club Santos, where he first caught the attention as his country’s next big thing. Despite the excitement, coach Dorival put the brakes on when the announcement was made.

“Let’s not set expectations too high and put all the focus on his comeback. Let’s go for balance and consistency in these two games. We don’t have to talk about what Neymar stands for, but he is still on his way to his top form. We have to understand that, but we also know what qualities he has.”

As said, Igor Paixão made the formative squad for this phase of World Cup qualifiers, yet has just been pipped to the post by some strong competition. The dynamic wingman, who has also shown that he can play behind a striker, has so far scored eight goals and assisted 11 in 37 all-competition games this term.

Brazil’s Final Selection:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Bento (Al-Nassr) and Ederson (Manchester City).
Defense: Danilo (Flamengo), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Guilherme Arana (Atlético-MG), Léo Ortiz (Flamengo), Marquinhos (PSG), Murillo (Nottingham Forest), Vanderson (Monaco) and Wesley (Flamengo).
Midfield: André (Wolverhampton), Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Gerson (Flamengo), Joelinton (Newcastle), Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton) and Neymar (Santos).
Attack: Estevao (Palmeiras), João Pedro (Brighton), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Savinho (Manchester City) and Vini Jr (Real Madrid).

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield