Neymar limped out of training with a knee injury just days after being stripped of the Brazil captaincy
- Neymar limped off the pitch after appearing to suffer a knee injury during a practise session with the Brazil national team on Tuesday, Goal.com reports.
- The injury punctuates a problematic week for the Paris Saint-Germain forward after he was stripped of the Brazil national team captaincy on Saturday, reportedly because of recent disciplinary issues.
- Despite all of this, he arrived at a recent training session by landing a black Mercedes Benz helicopter in the middle of the training ground.
- Brazil will attempt to win its first Copa America tournament in 12 years when the quadrennial international tournament kicks off in two weeks.
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Neymar's preparations for the upcoming Copa America tournament in Brazil have taken a hit as he limped out of a training session with a knee injury just days after being stripped of the captaincy.
The Copa America, a prestigious quadrennial international tournament, pits the best South American countries (plus invitational nations from Asia) against one another and, this summer, showcases elite talents like the Argentina forward Lionel Messi, the Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez, and the Venezuelan striker Josef Martinez.
As Brazil, an eight-time champion, has not won the competition since 2007, it will be desperate to triumph on home soil, particularly as it will help banish the negative memories associated with its underwhelming performance when it last hosted a major soccer tournament, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
But an injury to its star player, Neymar, will make success tougher as the 27-year-old appeared to suffer a knee injury during a practise session at the Granja Comary training complex in Teresopolis on Tuesday.
It all happened when he set his body up to take a shot. But after testing the goalkeeper, he then hobbled away from the penalty area before clutching his knee in obvious pain.
He appeared to be in discomfort for almost an entire minute and attempted to return to the training session, but later hobbled off the pitch for good.
Watch the ordeal here:
Goal.com reports that Neymar has received treatment and "will remain under evaluation," according to the Brazilian Football Confederation. But aside from this, it is unclear how severe Neymar's injury really is.
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The training ground injury punctuates a problematic week for Neymar, as Brazil manager Tite stripped the player of the captain's armband on Saturday so he could instead award it to veteran full back Dani Alves.
Neymar had only held the role for eight months but BBC said Tite removed him as captain because of "recent disciplinary issues."
French soccer authorities recently slapped Neymar with a three match ban after he appeared to hit a fan after PSG suffered a shock loss to Rennes in the Coupe de France final, last month.
Despite all of this, Neymar arrived at a recent training session in a black Mercedes Benz helicopter worth close to $15 million, smiling and laughing all the while.
The Copa America tournament kicks off with Brazil's opening Group A match against Bolivia on June 14. The final will be held on July 7 at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro.