Neymar hails title-winning Al Hilal, says he is ‘impatient’ to return to team

Brazilian superstar footballer Neymar praised his Al Hilal teammates after their exciting Roshn Saudi league win in his absence, saying he was eagerly awaiting a return to action next season.

Al Hilal took home the Roshn Saudi League title with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Al Hazem on Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, extending their Saudi Pro League record to 19 championships.

Speaking at the title celebrations on Saturday following Al Hilal’s victory, Neymar said: “I am very happy obviously. Winning titles is always good. The best thing would have been being on the pitch, but I am so happy for my teammates.”

“I am fine. I am feeling good. I am impatient to be back on the pitch. The fans are unbelievable. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to give them the happiness they deserve but you can be sure that next season we are going to have a lot of fun.”

Neymar joined Al Hilal from Paris St Germain last summer but has missed most of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in October on international duty.

The footballer made three Roshn Saudi League appearances before his injury, recording three assists as Al Hilal won two and drew one of the matches in which he featured.

His final league club appearance of the season, a 2-0 win over Al Shabab at the end of September, marked the first in a world record run that saw Al Hilal win an incredible 34 matches in succession.

Al Hilal’s topflight world football record run earlier this season saw them overtake Welsh club The News Saints’ winning streak of 27 games in the 2016-17 season. Prior to that, the record stood for 44 years following Dutch giants Ajax’s 26-game winning streak between 1971 and 1972.