‘I was with him the other day, we recorded an advert together and it was cool because I exchanged ideas with him’, said Ronaldo
Ronaldo Fenômeno recently met Neymar to film a commercial and took the opportunity to have a long conversation with the Santos star. The five-time world champion said that he advised Neymar to focus on recovering from his muscle injuries and to return gradually, respecting the medical plan.
“I was with him the other day, we filmed an ad together and it was cool because I exchanged ideas with him,” said Ronaldo, in an interview with the Denílson Show podcast. With experience in overcoming serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo showed empathy for Neymar’s situation.
“There will always be mean people wanting to provoke and say whatever they want. But the vast majority of football fans have to understand that it is not easy to be out of action for a year, come back from a serious injury and go back to playing as if nothing had happened”.
He emphasized that it is normal for high-performance athletes to take a long time to recover. “What Neymar is going through is very natural. It has happened to everyone who has had an injury for more than a year. You can look at the statistics. You gradually recover, you have relapses, you have muscle problems that may not be related to the previous injury. The body is fragile, and high-performance sports demand more and more from the athlete.”
“Sports are getting faster and more intense, and recovery is getting slower. It is very normal. I told him: ‘take your time, play for a while, then leave, play for another time.’ I just told him not to touch the ball (laughs). Take advantage and rest, focus on recovery. He has to respect his physical recovery plan,” he added.
Ronaldo took advantage of the conversation to reiterate that Neymar is the Brazilian National Team’s main hope for the 2026 World Cup. “He is the Brazilian National Team’s biggest hope, so I talked to him a lot that day so he could go in calmly, stay focused, keep training hard, and that his goal has to be the World Cup. He is passionate about the Brazilian National Team, one of the greatest stars we have had in the National Team, the National Team’s all-time top scorer.”
Neymar’s injuries in recent years
02/20/2023 – Ankle surgery
08/04/2023 – Muscle problems
10/19/2023 – Cruciate ligament rupture
11/04/2024 – Thigh injury
03/04/2025 – Thigh injury
