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Neymar Jr. delays return to Barcelona after netting Olympic gold

By Alex Butler
Brazil forward Neymar (10) and German midfielder Lars Bender (8) battle for a ball in the first half of the Men's Gold Medal soccer match at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 20, 2016. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI
1 of 3 | Brazil forward Neymar (10) and German midfielder Lars Bender (8) battle for a ball in the first half of the Men's Gold Medal soccer match at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 20, 2016. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Barcelona fans will have to wait until September to see Neymar Jr. as part of its astonishing attack.

The Brazilian forward has delayed his travel plans to return to the club, after leading Brazil to a gold medal win against Germany at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. His penalty kick score gave the country its first-ever Olympic gold medal in soccer.

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Neymar Jr., 24, will miss Barcelona's matchup this weekend against Athletic Bilbao. He was originally expected to be back with Barcelona on Wednesday, according to ESPN FC.

FC Barcelona manager Luis Enrique gave Neymar Jr. permission to stay in Brazil until September, according to Sport. Neymar Jr. also recently relinquished his captain duties for Brazil.

Brazil faces Ecuador and Colombia next week in World Cup qualifying matches. He is expected to return to Enrique's squad for a Sept. 10 match against Alaves at Camp Nou.

"Fresh off the back of winning Olympic gold with Brazil, Neymar Jr has been called up to the full national team and, with the permission of Luis Enrique, will return to the squad after the international break," FC Barcelona said in a statement.

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"Rafinha, who also represented Brazil at the Olympics, has not been selected for the national team's latest squad and will therefore return to Barça training on Wednesday," FC Barcelona said in a statement.

"The aforementioned duo each played an important part of an emotional Olympic final on Saturday. Neymar opened the scoring with a superb free kick, then Rafinha calmly converted a penalty in the shootout before Neymar then stepped up to score the fifth and decisive spot kick for his country to seal gold for the first time in Brazil's history," FC Barcelona said in a statement.

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