Neymar posts message after Santos’ Paulista exit | OneFootball

Neymar Jr posted a brief message after captaining Santos in their Paulistão single-leg quarter-final defeat to Novorizontino, playing his first full 90 of the year. He featured in the 2-1 loss at Jorge Ismael de Biasi in Novo Horizonte on Sunday 22.

According to Diario Do Peixe, he wrote on Instagram about faith and keeping on working.

He had previously come on at half-time in the 6-0 win over Velo Clube at Vila Belmiro on 15 February. The forward is seeking minutes to make the next Brazil squad, to be named by head coach Carlo Ancelotti for the March FIFA window.

That call will be the last before the official World Cup list. Brazil face France in Foxborough on 26 March at 18:00, then Croatia in Orlando on 31 March with the time to be confirmed. Going to the World Cup remains his main objective, and he has two more matches to impress the Italian coach.

Santos host Vasco on Thursday 26 at 19:00 in the fourth round of the Brasileiro, then visit Mirassol on Tuesday 10 March at 21:30 at José Maria de Campos Maia in the fifth round.

Had Santos progressed in the state tournament, a semi-final was slated for the weekend of 28 February or 1 March, with two-legged finals on 4 and 8 March. That would have provided three extra games.

Neymar ended last season as a key figure, scoring and helping to avert relegation. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on 22 December, began his transition in late January and has trained fully for about two weeks, with the staff cautious over his return.

Source: Diario Do Peixe