Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti declined to revisit his decision to call up Neymar Jr after the forward was diagnosed with a grade-two calf injury.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the national team's Granja Comary base near Rio de Janeiro, Ancelotti was asked whether he would still have selected Neymar had he known the full extent of the problem. He answered with a familiar Italian expression, saying "if my grandfather had wheels, he would be a car," and indicated he would not engage in hypotheticals about the squad.
The exchange came shortly after Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed the injury. Lasmar said Neymar arrived on Wednesday for medical tests and an MRI showed a grade-two strain in his right calf, not simple swelling.
He told reporters the 34-year-old is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks. The timeline rules Neymar out of Brazil's final warm-up matches against Panama on May 31 and Egypt on June 6, and puts him in doubt for the World Cup opener against Morocco on June 13 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.