Neymar shared a fresh-faced photo on Instagram, and the reaction landed on one line: he looked ten years younger. The full beard he had been wearing for months was gone. What remained was a trimmed mustache and goatee.
Followers filed into the comments within hours. Alô Alô Bahia reported that the 34-year-old had eliminated his full beard entirely, keeping only a mustache and goatee. Fans responded almost in unison.
“Ele fica lindão sem barba” (“He looks handsome without the beard”), one wrote.
“Super combinou, ficou mais estiloso” (“It really suits him, he looks more stylish”), another added.
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Several picked up on a sharper jawline and compared the styling to the teenager who broke through at Santos in the late 2000s. Others simply typed variations of the same verdict: ten years younger.
Sidelined since Vila Belmiro
The Instagram post was Neymar’s first splash on fans’ feeds in weeks. On 2 September, he was substituted at half-time of Santos’ Copa do Brasil quarter-final second leg against Palmeiras, complaining of pain in his right thigh after a challenge with Agustín Giay. Sports Dunia reported he was “substituted at half-time in tears.”
Santos later confirmed a type 2B muscle injury to the rectus femoris in his right thigh, with a typical recovery window of four to eight weeks. Palmeiras took the tie 3-0 on aggregate and knocked Santos out. Neymar has not played since.
Return not before late October
With the injury sustained on 2 September, the four-to-eight-week window puts Neymar’s earliest possible return at the end of the month, with late October or November more likely. He is expected to miss Santos’ Copa Sudamericana quarter-final legs against Atlético Mineiro during the recovery period, as gulfnews.com noted in early September.
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