Neymar limps out of Brazil World Cup training with apparent injury (Video)

Brazilian superstar Neymar limped away from a small training game on Tuesday with what appeared to be some sort of lower body injury.

Neymar, who is still working his way back to 100 percent from a foot injury suffered in late February, was seen grimacing as he left the field in apparent frustration:

The 26-year-old winger pulled up after pursuing the ball from the middle of the keep-away game. About 20 seconds later, he angrily kicked a ball with his left foot as he turned away from the rondo circle, the best indication that something wasn’t right.

Brazil officials played down the severity of the injury, and said Neymar would be back at training on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s game against Costa Rica. But Brazilian fans everywhere are understandably concerned.

Neymar’s recent injury issues

Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Sunday was Neymar’s first competitive game since February. He sustained a broken bone in his foot – a fractured metatarsal – playing for PSG in a Ligue 1 match against Marseille. He missed the remainder of the club season after opting for surgery.

By all accounts, his recovery was going smoothly. He did a significant portion of his rehab back home in Brazil. He joined the national team’s pre-World Cup camp with the rest of the squad in May.

And he dazzled in both of Brazil’s warmup friendlies. Coming off the bench in the first, he initially looked slightly rusty, then scored a brilliant goal. He started the second and looked great, bamboozling a defender and again finding the back of the net.

But the Switzerland game was a struggle. The Swiss were rough with Brazil’s main man, fouling him 10 times. There was concern in the immediate aftermath of the game that one of those 10 gave Neymar a fresh injury. He missed training Monday with an ankle knock, but postgame evaluations revealed nothing serious.

So it’s unclear if Tuesday’s ailment is new, or if it’s a leftover from the beating Neymar took on Sunday. Either way, it sounds like he’ll be good to go for Costa Rica.

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Henry Bushnell covers global soccer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell, and on Facebook.

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