NEYMAR, 30
Striker, Brazil Club: Paris Saint Germain (Fra)
If you had asked me this four years ago, I would have agreed,” said Cafu, when asked if Brazil have a lot riding on Neymar. The World Cup-winning captain of 2002 then explained why his answer has now changed, listing a string of attacking players Brazil could take to Doha. And that can only be good news for Neymar.
Neymar’s first World Cup ended in agony, literally, when he was carried off the pitch after a foul by Colombia wing back Juan Zuniga. Brazil made the semi-final, but would be without their most famous player, and a 7-1 humiliation followed. He got one goal in the 2018 finals, and featured in multiple memes suggesting he kept going down to easily to claim a foul.
This time though, Neymar is going to a World Cup following a good run of form at PSG, where he has 15 goals and 12 assists in 19 games. “When Neymar says that at a given time he made a mistake it is beautiful. What an example… Some people know how to grow and evolve. And they are brave to say it when they make mistakes. That’s his maturity,” Brazil head coach Tite has said of Neymar, whose time at the club has had some rough edges.
Brazil’s wealth of attacking options could mean that Neymar could in the position he prefers -- play behind a striker. He may operate behind Gabriel Jesus, Richarlison or Pedro, with Vinicius
Jr, Antony, Raphinha or Gabriel Martinelli stretching the play. They are wicked, Neymar said of his colleagues. “We have a great number of rising players. It hurts not to bring them all,” Tite has said.
It’s been 20 years since Brazil won their fifth World Cup -- the last country from South America to do so. And not since the 2002 World Cup, which marked the resurrection of the great phenomenon called Ronaldo, have Brazil had such fizz in attack. This group scored after a 29-pass routine against Peru in the last Copa America in 2019, and produced a 25-move goal against Ghana this September. Such is the creative excitement around the squad’s attacking players that, of the lot, Neymar, two goals short of Pele’s 77 international goals, is possibly the only one sure of a place in the starting line-up.