Neymar was back among the goals for Brazil as they cruised through to the World Cup quarter-finals with a thumping win on Monday night against South Korea - thanks to the same treatment that saw Ireland's Evan Ferguson make a miraculous recent comeback.
The Paris St Germain star picked up an ankle injury in Brazil’s group stage opener against Serbia - and missed the next two games against Switzerland and Cameroon.
Any fears that he would have to sit out the remainder of the tournament were allayed, however, when he returned to training just days before the last-16 clash.
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And we can reveal that he received cutting edge treatment on his road to recovery - using the very same technology that helped Ferguson in September.
Ferguson was stricken by a similar injury to the one that threatened Neymar’s World Cup, in the first leg of Ireland’s Under-21 European Championships play-off against Israel.
Yet the Brighton youngster, who last month won his first two senior caps, was fit enough to play the final 15 minutes in Tel Aviv just four days later.
Glauber Barduzzi is the physio for Jim Crawford’s Ireland Under-21 side.
A native of Brazil, he explained how Rodrigo Lasmar, the head physio on Tite’s coaching staff, prepared the 30-year-old star for a dramatic goalscoring return to action.
Neymar became only the third Brazilian to score in three or more World Cups - after Pele and Ronaldo - when he slotted home a 13th minute penalty in Monday’s 4-1 win.
“Neymar was getting physio more than 10 hours a day,” Barduzzi told Mirror online.
The Samba stars travelled to Qatar with the latest in physio technology, including machines from medical giants Globus.
Barduzzi was the first physiotherapist in Ireland to introduce the equipment to his practice.
And he brings the devices with him whenever he is on Under-21 duty with Ireland.
He said: “Brazil’s physios have a partnership with Globus, so they have Tecar, they have all the equipment. So it’s no surprise that Neymar is back.”
Tecar is a heat treatment that increases blood circulation and provides rich oxygenated blood in the area of injured tissues, reducing inflammation and pain.
As for Ferguson, he limped out of the first-leg against Israel in September on 79 minutes, not long after heading home the equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
At the time he was considered highly unlikely to feature in the second-leg, which took place just four days later in Tel Aviv.
His availability was cast into even greater doubt the day before the game when the injury stopped him from training in Israel.
However, Barduzzi continued to work on the teenager.
He explained: “Evan Ferguson, he had a sprain against Israel. We were playing here in Tallaght and we had the second match away in four days’ time.
“It was more or less like the injury that Neymar had with Brazil at the World Cup.
“So we did physiotherapy with him three times a day and he was very diligent.
“It was the Tecar, the electrostimulation, and then another technology that I have with me that does ice and compression.”
Barduzzi continued: “We trained in Israel on Monday and we tried to train him. He came out and said, ‘Glauber, I cannot train’.
“We took him out and we kept treating him. The next day he played the match. He was able to play. He had unbelievable results to be able to play four days after an ankle sprain.
“That was remarkable to get a recovery like that so fast.
“He was being treated three times a day with the technology and that really improved his pain levels and his swelling.
“He was able to return to play with the two games so close together and with the travel to Israel too.”
Neymar’s treatments included Tecar therapy, ice and compression, electro muscular stimulation and laser therapy.
The Brazil star revealed after his return against South Korea the lengths to which he went in order to get back onto the pitch.
He even stayed in the treatment room overnight after the Serbia match, receiving treatment well into the next morning.
“I was very scared, because I really believed in myself after my good start to the season,” said the PSG ace.
“Getting hurt like that was very painful. I cried all night afterwards, but everything turned out fine in the end.
“It was worth staying until 11am the next day with the physio, and then every day after that.”
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