Vojvoda upbeat about Neymar’s recovery at Santos, but issues warning | OneFootball

After the 2-2 draw between Santos and Botafogo at Nilton Santos Stadium, during the 30th round of the Brazilian Championship, coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda spoke about Neymar’s situation. The Argentine coach sees the attacking midfielder’s progress in a positive light as he recovers from a muscle injury in his right thigh, but he remains grounded.

“Neymar is working on the field. He hasn’t stopped working, but, as with any recovery, he spent a lot of time in the gym with the physiotherapists. Now he’s already on the field. And that pleases me. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll wait. He’s a player we care about and we know what he means to us,” he said.

Vojvoda chose not to set a return date for Neymar. He even used Willian Arão as an example. The midfielder was out for three months due to a calf injury.

“Let’s wait for this week. I like that I already see him on the field. That’s good. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. When I spoke about Arão, for example, he was anxious. They feel and they listen. They have to be well. If I put him in and he regresses, it’s no good. Let’s wait for the right moment. We have to be the same with everyone, especially with Neymar,” he concluded.

Neymar has been out since September 19, when a lesion was found in the rectus femoris muscle of his right thigh. The attacking midfielder began running on the pitch at the end of this week, but he has not yet started the physical transition.

Santos has nine more matches to play in 2025, all in the Brazilian Championship. The team hopes to have their star back as soon as possible, since they are fighting to avoid a second relegation to Série B.

Neymar’s Numbers

Neymar hasn’t played since the match against Atlético-MG on September 14. In 2025, he played 21 games, with six goals and three assists.

Next Santos Match

Standings Situation

With the draw against Botafogo, Santos remains in 16th place, now with 32 points, one more than Vitória, who lost to Corinthians and sits at the top of the relegation zone.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.