NEYMAR'S sister's infamous birthday curse has struck for the TENTH time as the forward missed his first Santos match at the weekend.
Rafaella Santos celebrates her big day on March 11.
And it's become a running joke in football that Neymar miraculously always seems to pick up and injury or suspension to coincide with festivities.
There is no indication the Brazil legend does it on purpose.
But Santos' trip to Corinthians on Sunday evening marked the TENTH time in the last 11 seasons that he's missed the game nearest Rafaella's birthday.
Neymar suffered a devastating injury blow in 2023 as he tore his ACL shortly after his massive money move to Al-Hilal and barely featured for the Saudi club.
But those issues finally appeared to be behind him as Neymar featured in seven out of seven games for Santos since his emotional return to his boyhood club at the end of January.
However he was unable to play in Santos' Campeonato Paulista semi-final defeat to Corinthians.
Neymar, 33, explained his absence was due to a feeling of discomfort.
He wrote on Instagram: “All I wanted was to be on the field today and help my teammates in some way… but last Thursday, I felt some discomfort, which kept me from playing today. We did a test this morning, and I felt it again!
"Unfortunately, this is part of football… It didn’t work out today, but we’ll come back even stronger to fight for our goals!”
He has missed matches due to suspension but mostly because of injury, often unnamed muscle problems.
Santos coach Pedro Caixinha defended Neymar's absence, saying: "Our commitment is to do everything within our reach to prevent Neymar from getting injured.
"And some discomfort is not an injury. He wasn't in condition to give his best. Now, we're not going to create an issue where none exists."
LEOMI10
25
Family comes first! Leave him alone.