Rodrygo to take Neymar’s number 10 jersey in superstar’s absence during Copa America

Arnav KholkarPublished: 08 Jun 2024 09:30 AM

In an interesting turn of events, the Brazilian Football Confederation announced their squad numbers for Copa America 2024, with Rodrygo listed as the number 10. The Real Madrid winger will don the iconic jersey in Neymar’s absence as he recovers from an ACL injury.

Rodrygo to wear Neymar’s number 10

Rodrygo will be delighted to be named in Brazil’s squad for the upcoming Copa America 2024, and will be happier that he will be able to wear the coveted number 10 jersey.

🚨Rodrygo is officially Brazil’s number 10 for this summer! 🇧🇷

Neymar told Rodrygo back in 2022 that the number 10 would be his eventually. pic.twitter.com/TG9ymicXo1
— Brasil Football 🇧🇷 (@BrasilEdition) June 6, 2024

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Despite having done so in previous call-ups for his nation for Qualifiers and Friendlies, this will be the first time Rodrygo will don the jersey at a major tournament. Unfortunately for the national team, Neymar will not recover from his ACL injury in time for the tournament.

The superstar picked up the injury while playing for Al Hilal back in October 2023 and has been on the sidelines since. His current setback has been the longest in his career in terms of games missed, as Neymar has missed over 40 games for club & country in this span. Now with his return date set to around July, he will look to return and stay consistent.

Rodrygo’s season with Real Madrid

Rodrygo, on the other hand, is coming off a pretty impressive season for Los Blancos. The 23-year-old made a total of 51 appearances across competitions and provided a healthy return of 17 goals and nine assists.

His contributions were crucial as Real Madrid marched towards yet another LaLiga title, and also secured their 15^th Champions League title this season. Additionally, they also won the Supercopa de Espana in January after defeating arch-rivals Atletico Madrid.

Rodrygo has made 22 appearances for Brazil since making his debut back in November 2019 as a 17-year-old. In that time, he has scored five goals and also provided one assist. Now, after being handed the coveted number 10 jersey, he will look to take his performances to the next level and will look to win their 10^th Copa America crown in history.

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