Neymar leaves Brazil loss to Uruguay with injury

Neymar was in tears as he left the field with an apparent knee injury at the end of the first half of Brazil‘s 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss at Uruguay on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old striker tripped and fell during a run in the 44th minute at the Centenario Stadium and was immediately surrounded by players from both teams as he held his left knee.

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Neymar was carried off on a stretcher as he held both of his hands to his face, while teammate Richarlison came on to replace him.

Brazil’s medical team had no immediate update on Neymar’s condition, but sources told Reuters that he had sustained a severe left knee sprain and that he would undergo tests to determine if there was ligament damage.

Darwin Nunez scored the opener for Uruguay and Nicolás de la Cruz scored the second for Marcelo Bielsa’s side in a match that saw Brazil drop points for the second match in a row.

Neymar, who plays for Al Hilal of the Saudi Pro League, was criticized by fans before the World Cup qualifier because of his subpar performance during Thursday’s 1-1 draw between host Brazil and Venezuela.

Neymar made his national team debut in 2010 and has 79 goals in 128 appearances for Brazil, but he has struggled with injuries for both club and country in recent years. He has missed multiple months in each of the past two seasons with different ankle injuries and sat out two World Cup games in Qatar after going down in Brazil’s opener against Serbia.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.