Raphinha hobbles off with suspected muscle injury against Haiti | OneFootball

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Raphinha sparked concern on the Brazil bench when he went off injured in the first half of Brazil’s second group stage game at the World Cup against Haiti.

The camera caught the Barcelona winger on his haunches being comforted by teammate Vinícius Júnior, before physios hurriedly entered the frame to assess his well-being with Brazil cruising at 2-0 up.

Raphinha appeared to have suffered the injury off the ball, leading BBC Sport to speculate that the 29-year-old could have suffered a muscle strain as further details on the injury are yet to be revealed.

Brazilian outlet Globo shared their suspicions, given that he placed his hand on the back of his right thigh while in deep discussion with the medical team.

It comes as iconic Brazilian winger Neymar was ruled out for the second group match running, still feeling the effects of a calf issue he sustained in the final weeks of the league season playing for boyhood club Santos FC.

Rayan replaced his stricken teammate to make his World Cup debut and just a third appearance in a Brazil shirt, after an impressive season scoring five goals in 15 Premier League matches for Europe-bound Bournemouth.

Vinícius added Brazil’s third before half-time to put his country provisionally back on top of Group C.

Raphinha being ruled out will be yet another unwanted hit to Brazil’s wide areas, with his country level on four points with Morocco after their 1-0 victory over Scotland – who themselves lie just a single point behind in third.

But if any consolation, depending on how long the Barcelona starlet is ruled out for, he could at best miss their round of 32 match against a third-placed team if they finish top of the group.

It will remain all to play for when Seleção face off with Scotland in their final group stage game next Wednesday at 23:00 (BST), and to Carlo Ancelotti’s anguish he may oversee the crucial game without one of his key attacking assets.

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