Can Neymar win Brazil back?
Where did it go wrong?
The moment Neymar arrived on the scene as a teenager for Santos, Brazil knew something special was brewing. A country that has produced some of the world’s most skilful and entertaining footballers in history, Brazil understood the enormous potential on their hands and couldn’t help being overcome with expectation. At just 17 years old, Neymar was thrown into the role as the future of Brazil and there was little he could do about the pressure that would come his way, which has eventually caught up to him as he’s gotten older. In an interview last year, Neymar suggested that his international career could be approaching an end, but later cleared up his statement by insisting that he’d meant the World Cup in Qatar would be his last, comments that came just months after Brazil were defeated by Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the Copa America final on home soil. Though Neymar claimed to have been misunderstood, his remark that he is unsure whether he can “deal with football anymore” was never going to be swept under the rug. He was speaking from a place of pain, as someone who feels that, despite what he has achieved in his career, he can never quite do enough.
Neymar made his international debut for the five-time World Cup winners in 2010, shortly after the side crashed out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage. At the time, it had just been eight years since Brazil’s last World Cup triumph, but the feeling within the country’s footballing circles was that Neymar was not going to take long to restore the nation’s status as world champions, and that sentiment only grew as time went on. Three years later, he was Selecao’s most influential player as Brazil lifted the FIFA Confederations Cup trophy, with Neymar ending the tournament with more goal contributions than games. Everyone around the world was watching, and Brazil’s most promising prodigy since Robinho was delivering at the highest level as his reputation continued to grow following his transfer to Barcelona in 2013. Goals, assists, skill and magic. Neymar epitomised Brazilian flair, and the 2014 World Cup was perfectly set up to be his moment until the dream was pulled from under his feet in a quarter-final victory over Colombia. A rash challenge from Camilo Zuniga fractured a vertebra in his back late on in the encounter, dashing Brazil’s hopes of going all the way in competition. Heartbreak and disappointment. Fans believed, and to this day still do, that their infamous 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-final would not have happened if Brazil had their leading forward available.
In 2016, a controversial decision to miss the Copa America in favour of turning out for Brazil’s Olympic team left supporters confused. Despite his performances for the side that claimed gold, it was felt that his priority should have been the senior national team, particularly after fingers were pointed at him after Brazil’s 2015 Copa America tournament, where a sending off in a group stage game left him unavailable for four matches as Selecao crashed out at the last eight. By this point, Neymar had been stripped of the captaincy that was awarded to him following the 2014 World Cup, but the tournament in Russia was supposed to be the start of his redemption story. However, though he turned up with key performances, Neymar received widespread criticism for his behaviour throughout the 2018 edition of the World Cup after he was accused of spending more time on the floor than on his feet.
Neym ar m igh t be closin g in on Pele’s record as Brazil’s all-tim e record goalscorer, buthisrelationshipwithhis coun try h as, at least in recen t years, been fractious. Despite bein g a gen eration al talen t, w h o h as outperform ed m an y of h is idols in yellow , th e 30-year-old is yet to fulfil th e destin y th at w as chosen forhim – th e destin y of in spirin g Brazil to FIFA World Cup glory. H is reputation back h om e h as taken a kn ock in recen t years, w ith th e w in ger still search in g for h is first m ajor tourn am en t trium ph , butwillhebeupforthe ch allen ge in Qatar? Th ere is certain ly optim ism th at h e w ill, w rites Soccer Ladum a in tern ation al journ alist Kurt Buckerfield.
Winning without Neymar
The frustration that had surrounded his international career and Brazil’s tournament failures became a tiresome topic in the country, but the 2019 Copa America was a chance for supporters to analyse what the national team would look like without Neymar, who had suffered an ankle injury that was going to keep him sidelined for four weeks, ruling him out of the competition. Nobody in Brazil celebrated his absence, but neither was it mourned. Tite’s men would go on to claim the trophy in what was the national team’s most impressive major tournament showing since their 2002 World Cup-winning campaign, leading to a stain on Neymar’s status as Brazil’s leading man. As a result, he’d become an even more polarising figure in the country, a narrative compounded by the belief that he was living a lifestyle that wasn’t conducive to success on the field. His decision to ditch Barcelona for Ligue 1 in 2017, his regular lengthy spells on the sidelines – Brazilian fans were turning on Neymar and made no bones about it. This culminated in an online war of words between the superstar and fans who were rumoured to be backing fierce rivals Argentina in the build-up to their final against Brazil. Neymar used explicit language as he told those sections of supporters how he felt about them in no uncertain terms, making for an interesting final at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Courtesy of an early goal from his then-club teammate Angel Di Maria, Argentina won the game, with cameras later capturing Neymar’s shattered reaction to yet another international disappointment.
Qatar presents an opportunity
The World Cup in the Middle East will be an opportunity of a lifetime for Neymar, one that the in-form PSG winger will be eager grab with both hands. This season so far, the Brazilian has been in sensational touch at club level as he is on course to produce career-best numbers should he remain fit for the entirety of the campaign. More significant than that, however, will be the narrative in his own mind, the one where he has convinced himself that the World Cup in Qatar will be his last. Maybe it will be, perhaps Neymar envisions hanging up his boots on the international stage in the coming years or perhaps it is the former Barcelona No. 11’s way of motivating himself to produce one of the greatest tournament performances the world will ever see. He is capable of it; Neymar is on a short list of footballers capable of anything.