Neymar limps from training
SOCHI, Russia — Neymar limped out of Brazil’s training session at the World Cup on Tuesday because of pain in his right ankle.
The Brazilian soccer confederation said the injury was not serious, adding Neymar left as a precaution and would be back in training on Wednesday.
The federation said Neymar has been in pain since the team’s 1-1 draw against Switzerland on Friday, when he was consistently fouled.
Neymar started practicing with the rest of the squad but left accompanied by a doctor about 30 minutes into the session in Sochi.
He had been playing keepaway with a few other players when he started showing signs of discomfort in his ankle. He was visibly in pain after he tried to intercept a ball with his right foot while at the centre of the keep-away circle.
At one point, he bent down and grabbed his ankle, but tried to continue playing anyway. A few moments later he finally decided to leave, kicking a ball away with his left foot before limping away beside the team doctor.
“Neymar left the training session with some pain in his right ankle because of the number of fouls he suffered in the game against Switzerland,” federation spokesman Vinicius
Rodrigues said. “Since today was only a recovery session for the starters, and he complained about pain, he ended going to rehabilitation.”
Rodrigues said Neymar would continue his recovery process but was set to practice normally on Wednesday, two days before the team’s match against Costa Rica in St. Petersburg. Brazil and Switzerland are two points behind group leader Serbia, which defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in its opener.
Neymar had already practiced separately from his teammates on Monday.
SAUDI PLAYERS NOT RATTLED
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Saudi Arabia’s national team endured an engine malfunction on the flight to Rostov-on-Don. That’s not exactly the best preparation for a World Cup match against Uruguay.
The Saudis landed in the southern Russian city late Monday after flames were seen coming out of one of the engines. Team officials refused to speak to reporters after the incident, but the country’s soccer association confirmed the episode and said all its players and staff were fine.
“The pictures speak for themselves and point to some kind of emergency,” Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi said Tuesday. “But the players were all calm. It won’t affect our performance tomorrow.”
Saudi Arabia needs points against Uruguay on Wednesday after a 5-0 loss to Russia in the opening match of the World Cup. Uruguay won its first match against Egypt 1-0.
“We are not happy with the way the first match went, but will trust in our ability to go out and win the next game,” Pizzi said.
LENO JOINING ARSENAL
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno is leaving Bayer Leverkusen to join Arsenal.
The Premier League club said Tuesday that the 26-yearold Leno has agreed to join and that the “deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.”
Bundesliga team Leverkusen also announced the transfer, saying Leno “has penned a longterm deal with the London club.”
Leno, who just missed out on being Germany’s third-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup, strengthens Arsenal options in goal under new head coach Unai
Emery. He will compete with veteran Petr Cech and David
Ospina, who is at the World Cup with Colombia.
COLOMBIAN SINGER ROBBED
MOSCOW — Russian police say that $800,000 worth of valuables have been stolen from Colombian singer Maluma’s hotel room in Moscow while he’s visiting Russia to support the Colombia team at the World Cup. Russian news reports quoted local police as saying that the stolen items included a variety of luxury watches, numerous pieces of jewelry and other belongings.