Neymar will never match Pelé – Scolari
FORMER BRAZIL head coach Luis Felipe Scolari believes that striker Neymar will never live up to the impact of Brazilian great Pelé.
“In Brazil, we know who is
Neymar and who is Pelé. We know that there is only one Pelé and there will never be another,”
Scolari said in an interview with
Spanish reporters.
“A player can be very good, spectacular even, but they will never be like Pelé because he has no heir. Nobody will ever equal him.” Neymar, 26, scored two goals in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but could not stop Brazil from crashing out to Belgium in the quarterfinals yesterday on the back of a 2-1 loss.
Pelé was only
17 when he won his first
World Cup in
Sweden in
1958.
Neymar was ruled out by injury four years ago when Brazil slumped to a 7-1 defeat against Germany with Scolari in charge.
Scolari, meanwhile suggested that Neymar had slowed his development by leaving Barcelona.
“At Barcelona, he evolved a lot and he almost reached the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. But it is not something that happens from one day to the next. He is on the right road, but he still needs time. Perhaps in one year or two, he will be at their level.”