Oct 22,2024
Neymar returned to action for Al-Hilal's hard-fought 5-4 win over UAE Pro League side Al-Ain in the Asian Champions League on Monday.
The 32-year-old Brazil forward came on for the injured Nasser Al-Dawsari in the 77th minute with his team leading 5-3 thanks to Salem Al-Dawsari's hat-trick and goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Renan Lodi.
He then came close to scoring after a counter-attack late on, before Al-Ain pulled one back in stoppage time with a penalty from Soufiane Rahimi, who also bagged a hat-trick.
"I feel good, it's so hard. I always have a good team. But I'm so happy. I'm back," said an emotional Neymar after the game at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium.
Neymar had not played for a year after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during Brazil's qualifier against Uruguay. He underwent surgery last November.
Having moved to Saudi Arabia from French champions Paris St Germain for a reported €90 million transfer fee in August last year, Neymar had only played five games before his layoff as he was struggling with muscle injuries.
His €222m switch from Barcelona to PSG in 2017 remains the world record for a transfer.
