Dec 4 (Reuters) - Neymar played through a knee injury to score a hat-trick and lift his boyhood club Santos clear of the relegation zone in Brazil's Serie A.
The 33-year-old former Barcelona and Paris St Germain forward scored three times within 17 minutes to secure a 3-0 win at Juventude on Wednesday evening, sending them two points clear of the bottom four with one match left.
Neymar has had a long struggle with injuries and has not represented Brazil since October 2023.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said in October that Neymar remains in his plans for next year's World Cup, but the striker must regain full fitness.
Neymar has scored five goals and provided one assist in the last three matches, helping Santos pick up seven points to lift them to 14th in the table.
They host Cruzeiro on Sunday in the last match of the campaign.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
