As Neymar is out due to injury, a player no one expected to wear his number 10 will wear it in the Copa America.
Neymar puts his hand on his ear while wearing the Brazilian national team jersey, the Brazilian national team badge is next to him. (Source: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Neymar Jr. will not be playing the Copa America 2024 for the Brazilian national team after he suffered a serious ACL injury last October, ironically playing for Brazil in a World Cup qualifiers match against Uruguay. Neymar is known to wear the number 10 shirt for Brazil, but since he won’t make it for the tournament, another player will wear it during the prestigious tournament. Real Madrid’s Rodrygo was picked to wear the number 10 shirt, ahead of Vinicius Jr., Lucas Paqueta, and others. Vinicius Jr. will wear the number 7 shirt, while Lucas Paqueta will wear the number 8 shirt. Endrick will be wearing the number 9 shirt. Rodrygo wore the number 10 in the past, and the last time he did so was in the friendly matches against England and Spain a few months ago.
In 2022, Rodrygo revealed in an interview that Neymar told him that he would eventually wear the number 10 shirt from him. Rodrygo said, “Neymar said to me ‘I’m already leaving the national team and the 10 is yours.’ I didn’t even know what to say to him. I was embarrassed, I giggled and didn’t even know what to say properly. I told him that he must play some more, that I didn’t want [him] to [do so] now. And then he laughed.”
Rodrygo has already made a total of 22 appearances for the Brazilian national team, and his total goal contributions are five goals and one assist. He played in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and played in every match. Rodrygo will play his first Copa America this summer with the national team after missing out on the squad to play in the U21 Brazil national team.
Neymar is back training on the football pitch
While Rodrygo will be wearing the iconic number 10 shirt for Brazil in the Copa America, Neymar is slowly recovering from his injury, and his return on the pitch is getting closer. Neymar was seen running and doing cardio drills on a football pitch. Neymar was training with football boots, and it was the first time he wore them in eight months.
