Neymar gets his kicks on mixed night
A FEW months ago, Zico, one of the great heroes of Brazilian football and one of its great No 10s, was sitting in an upstairs office at his academy in Recreio on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, talking about the World Cup in Qatar.
‘We have a big chance,’ he said. ‘We have a good team and the youngsters — Vini, Antony and Raphinha — are our big hope.’
He did not mention Neymar Jr. Not until he was prompted anyway. A lot of analysts of the Brazil team are like that.
Neymar is second only to Pele in the goals he has scored for his country, a record he may break here in Qatar, yet Brazilians still struggle to embrace him wholeheartedly.
So when I asked Zico if he was a fan of Neymar, of the current No 10 of the national team, the player who is the jewel even in the glittering crown of this Brazil side who are trying to win the World Cup for the first time in 20 years, he looked at me with something between a grimace and a grin. ‘Of his football, yes,’ he said.
Zico is a charmingming man and a diplomat so he left the rest unsaid. Butut if Brazilians haveve struggled to takee Neymar to theirr hearts in the same way they worshipped Zico, Ronaldo and other modern heroes, it is because he is still regarded as something - of a dilettantete off the pitch.
He is lavishlyshly talented but the most he has won for his country is Olympic gold in Rio in 2016. This tournament in Qatar represents his best chance of putting that right.
Neymar’s name still got a massive roar of approval when it was read out — and his picture appeared on the screens high in the four corners of the arena — at the Lusail Stadium last night before Brazil’s opening 2-0 win against Serbia.
In a team of all the talents, a team who are the favourites to win the tournament, Neymar is still the man who could make the difference.
His chances of winning the World Cup on home soil were ruined eight years ago when he was brutally taken out of the tournament when a knee in the back against Colombia broke one of his vertebrae and forced him to miss the 7-1 semi-final humiliation by Germany.
Neymar got an early taste of that kind of treatment last night when Filip Mladenovic literally ripped the shirt from his back a few minutes in. At the start of the second half, he was hacked down ruthlessly by Nemanja Gudelj as he sprinted at the Serbia defence.
By midway through the half, he was the most fouled player of the tournament so far. And with 10 minutes left he was taken off with a suspected sprained ankle, which was covered with ice on the Brazil bench.
Even with Vinicius Jr dancing down the left, Raphinha dazzling on the rightrigh and Richarlisonson pupulling defenders in all directions down the centre, Neymar waswa still the star ofo the show for BrazilB last night, at least until the Tottenham forward’s stunning second goal. Brazil are ffavourites for a rreason,e they loolooked like the ffavouritesav and if they win this World Cup, NNeymar will be ththeiri lleadingdig man. It was his quicksilver skills that forced the breakthrough Brazil were craving just after an hour when he twisted one way then the other in the box, Vinicius Jr lashed in a shot and Richarlison poked in the rebound.
Richarlison scored it but Neymar inspired it. As age dims the light that shines from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar still looks like a player in his prime.
He has never quite made it into the same bracket as Messi, now his team-mate at Paris SaintGermain, or Ronaldo, nor even his other PSG team-mate, Kylian Mbappe. But if he can lead Brazil to victory here, Neymar may yet ascend to his place in the pantheon of the game’s greats.