In a few weeks, Neymar will be 29 years old. The Brazilian should be old, about to start a two-year period, which will be vital in defining his career. This period will begin with the recovery from his most recent injury, ending with the 2022 World Cup and, with the hopes of all Brazilians on his shoulders, a sixth championship.
The next two years will have a lot to do with his attempts to consolidate his place in the pantheon of football greats, although winning the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League will not be the only goals. The era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is coming to an end. The throne of the world’s greatest footballer is about to be released, and Robert Lewandowski is unlikely to be a long-term candidate, given that the Pole is 32 years old. At the discretion of some, and almost certainly his own, Neymar’s career would not have reached its full potential if he were not able to obtain this honor.
Certainly (and with good reason) some will see the above as an exaggeration, as a stupid trap in which too much attention is paid to an individual prize, awarded under subjective criteria, in a team sport. However, Neymar is Brazilian; Therefore, he grew up with the idea that the trophy for the best footballer in the world is a kind of birthright for the natives of that country. Romario, Ronaldo Nazario, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká – it seemed obvious that the most remarkable Brazilian footballer would be considered the best in the world.
It could also be that the search for the recording is counterproductive, because we see moments when Neymar accumulates too much pressure to shine.
Certainly, this seemed to be the case in the final of the previous edition of the Champions League, the most important club match he played in his career. It was surprising to see that from the moment Bayern Munich scored their first goal, Neymar’s game fell apart. He couldn’t help but get Paris Saint-Germain out of the hole. He seemed to be a man who gave in to excessive pressure, and the events of the previous days probably raised the pressure to another level.
An obvious criticism received by Neymar after the Champions League final did not focus on the fact that he seemed to be a man under too much pressure; on the contrary, it was said that when it came time for serious work, he continued to behave like a teenager.
In the months that followed, the story changed to revolve around a new phenomenon: Neymar, the adult. It had been said that the striker had understood a harsh but undeniable truth: his career would not be eternal and that the time had come to make a difference. He was widely praised for playing a leading role when PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir left the pitch during the Champions League clash last December following allegations of racism by a referee.
As Fernando Kallás, a Brazilian journalist living in Spain, said in a recent post on social media: “This week, I was full of praise for the maturity shown by Neymar, the position he took against racism and the way its image is improving here in Europe ”. Kallás closed his post with an emoticon of a hand that slapped a head – his confession, visually, that he spoke too quickly about the star gunner.
What was the reason? The controversy caused by Neymar’s party, which included a five-day period between Christmas and New Year, according to newspaper reports.
Brazilian media reported that the PSG player had organized a party for 500 participants (although it had been indicated that attendance would be limited to 150 people) on his property in Mangaratiba, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, amid a coronavirus pandemic that had particularly severe effects on Brazil. After some relief, the daily death toll in the South American nation is again over a thousand, while the overall gloomy balance will soon exceed 200,000.
There are no times to have a lavish party. Even the traditional New Year’s Eve holidays have been canceled across the country for public health reasons.
The reaction was immediate. “It doesn’t matter if 500 or 150 people attended the party,” wrote Mauricio Noriega, a journalist for SporTV. “What speaks for itself is the attitude of a person who imitates a Michael Jackson football, stuck in his Neverland, isolated from the rest of the world, living in adolescence, impressed by the stars of entertainment.”
Noriega’s words could be loaded with deep bitterness, for the journalist had been among those who had praised Neymar before he knew of the celebration. “A few days ago, I looked stupid,” he said, “when I said that Neymar became independent as an athlete and as a person, as part of the protest” after leaving the field in the Champions League match.
Former midfielder Zé Elias, who played for almost a decade in Europe, spoke in similar terms on the ESPN Brazil screen.
“Neymar is the product of an environment that was created for him from the beginning … a mentality in which he says:” This boy is a star, let’s let him do what he wants “. That’s how he grew up, he got used to it and nobody stops him “. When analyzing the repercussions that the event would have on his country, Elías indicated: “This is the reason why Brazil will never be seen as a serious country.”
Veteran television commentator Galvao Bueno also voiced criticism, while former football star Walter Casagrande, who currently serves as an analyst, commented that Neymar “is still small when it comes to things that matter. true”.
If Neymar wants to grow up to wear the boots of the best footballer in the world, now he will have to do it with a much heavier load on his shoulders. Currently, the pressure is higher. Those who want to defend him have more and more difficulty, while those who seek to attack him have additional reasons to point their arrows at him. And I hope that the death toll from the coronavirus will not be affected by what happened in Mangaratiba, anyway.