Author: Liam

Sweden sweating on Ibrahimovic fitness

On: By: Liam

Sweden started the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a draw against Austria away from home. They came into the match after a 2-0 friendly victory over Estonia, but their failure to win the friendly match places a lot of importance on the upcoming qualifying matches against Russia and Liechtenstein. Manager Erik Hamren was sweating on the fitness of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of these two matches. The Paris St Germain centre forward suffered a rib injury at the end of August while playing for his club.

It was highly anticipated that Ibrahimovic would need almost month to recover from the injury and this would have ruled him out of these two matches. However, Ibrahimovic returned to the team and became Sweden’s record goalscorer by scoring two goals in the friendly against Estonia. The 32-year-old was not unable to influence the friendly against Austria in the same manner. After going down to a penalty from Bayern Munich defender David Alaba, Sweden came back quickly with a goal from Zengin. They were unable to find the winning goal that would have given them a positive start to the qualifying campaign.

Three teams are expected to be in contention for the top two automatic qualifying places with Sweden being one of them. “I myself have not talked to him, but I have people in management who have it and we have a good handle with Paris. My hope is that it is not as serious as it might have speculated in the media. With the information I have received, I hope that it will be quickly, even in Paris as well,” said the Sweden manager a month ago about the injury situation surrounding Ibrahimovic. Home matches against Russia and Liechtenstein will be key towards qualifying for the tournament. Ibrahimovic has now scored 50 goals for the national team.

Neymar Back Training

On: By: Liam

One of the stars of Barcelona, Neymar was expected to be main figure behind Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and he indeed did manage to live up to those expectations as he went on scoring 4 goals in 5 matches as the Brazilian attacker played a huge role for his country before picking up an injury that left him unable to play for around 6 weeks.

Barcelona’s next season kicks off on August 24 as they face off againstElcheand it still remains fairly unknown if whether or not the Brazilian player will be able to make it in time for the opening match of the season for his club.

Neymar has started playing in a few training sessions with his squad teammates but the medical staff ofBarcelonahave not officially revealed if Neymar can perform againstElcheas the formerSantosplayer still hasn’t fully recovered.

A statement from the official website of Barcelona said: “Although he has yet to be given a clean bill of health by club doctors, Neymar completed a full session under Luis Enrique this evening, as the squad had their second session of the day. The Brazilian has been gradually getting up to speed with the rest of the players since reporting back for duty with the back injury he picked up at the World Cup.”

Luis Enrique wanted to kick off the campaign by having all of his major stars available for him but this will not be happening as Luis Suarez is banned and will not perform for at least the opening 5 league matches of Barcelona and Neymar still has not fully recovered from the injury he sustained during the 2014 World Cup.

Zuniga Apologies For Neymar Injury

On: By: Liam

The Colombian defender Juan Camilo Zuniga recently apologized for his unintentional actions towards Neymar which concluded with the Brazilian star on picking up an injury that will be leaving him out of the remaining stages of the 2014 World Cup.

 

Camilo Zuniga released a statement which read: “I am deeply sorry and said about what happened although I feel the situation was normal in a game, there was no bad intention, malice or negligence on my part.”

 

Even though the harsh tackle of Zuniga towards Neymar will be leaving out the Brazilian star of the worldwide event, FIFA will not take action against what happened and this has sparked a series of criticism against the International Football Association as supporters of Brazil have compared this event with Luis Suarez who even though did not damage Giorgio Chiellini on a long term manner, the Uruguayan attacker was still sanctioned for a significantly long period of time.

 

However in this case, Zuniga did harm Neymar on a long term way but the Colombian defender will not receive any kind of sanctions or punishments for his actions.

 

Brazilis implementing a treatment with Neymar that will allow the young attacker on recovering at a quick pace but even with this fast recovery, it will not be enough for him to represent his nation at the 2014 World Cup even if they do manage on entering the finals on July 13.

 

Neymar expressed how hard it has been for him to not be able on representing his country at a World Cup thatBrazilis hosting, where fans are expecting theBarcelonastar on being the main attacking outlet of the squad.

 

“I don’t have words to describe what has been going through my head and my heart. I just want to say that I will be back as soon as possible. When you least expect I’ll be back’’ Neymar said.

Pele says there is too much pressure on Neymar

On: By: Liam

 

Brazilian football legend Pele thinks young starlet Neymar is under a bit too much pressure to deliver the World Cup forBrazil and is concerned about his well being.

The 22 year oldBarcelonastriker has never played at the World Cup but he has been in free scoring form, scoring seven goals for the Canaries in their run of nine successive friendly wins ahead of the showpiece on home soil.

Pele told Gary Linekar in an informal chat that the player is still young, and the pressure is a bit too much on his young shoulders.

Brazilhas won five World Cup titles but has not won the title since their last triumph 2002. The hosts will faceCroatiain their opening group game, which is also the curtain raiser for the World Cup.

The Canaries won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup with a thumping win over Spainlast year and fans expect Neymar to deliver the same kind of performance this time around and inspire the team to the much awaited sixth title.

Pele also added that it is probably for the first time in the history of Brazilian football that they have a defense better than attack and the entire nation is looking at one man to lead the attack and that is a bit unfair on the youngster.

Pele was only 18 years old when he first graced the world stage back in 1958 when Brazil won their first World Cup but he believes he had a team of experienced heads around him and the pressure on him wasn’t too much.

The legendary Brazilian also said the midfield is also fantastic and extremely organized but the goals need to come from all sources and not just Neymar forBrazil to raise the trophy aloft next month.

Neymar Confident On Recovery

On: By: Liam

Barcelona superstar Neymar has stated that he is looking to return to the pitch just in time for the final match of the season against Atletico Madrid. Barcelona go into the match still with hope of winning the title. They will be able to do so if they beat the Champions League finalist. Atletico Madrid have the opportunity to seal the title last weekend but they could only get a 1-1 draw against Malaga. Meanwhile, Barcelona will be welcoming back Neymar for this match.

The 21-year-old has been suffering from a foot injury in the last few weeks. His recovery was expected to be quick given that he was included in the World Cup squad by manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. Neymar will be one of the most high profile players at the World Cup. He has been regarded as one of Brazil’s most important players for the last few years. Ahead of the match with Athletico, Neymar has stated that he is feeling fit and ready for the encounter. He has been stretching himself in recovery over the last few days.

Even though he may not be able to start the match after being on the sidelines for several weeks, Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino may decide to name him on the bench.

“I’m in the final stretch in terms of recovery and I’ll see if I can play (on Saturday) when I’m back to training. We’re really ready for this. Atletico have a great team, great players and will be hard to defeat, but we have no choice other than to go out and win,” said Neymar. The forward had a great start to his Barcelona life with an amazing first half of the season, but the second half has been very difficult for him. He has scored nine goals in the league this season.