'He remains a prisoner of his potential, a kid of abundant talent; the most expensive player in the world and yet somehow unfulfilled.' As Neymar turns 30, jonawils traces his career through 10 key games—and how he has come to embody soccer's modern age
It was supposed to be Brazil’s World Cup. It was supposed to put right the Maracanazo and all the disappointments of 1950. It was supposed to be Neymar’s coronation. Initially, all went well. Brazil had won the Confederations Cup in 2013 in a tournament marked by explosions of patriotic pride, notably the passionate a cappella pre-match renditions of the national anthem.
Barça won the league and the Copa del Rey, but its best football came in the Champions League. Neymar scored three times across the two legs of the quarterfinal as PSG was dismissed 5–1 on aggregate, and he scored in both legs of a convincing semifinal win over Bayern. Neymar was involved in the build-up to Ivan Rakitić’s early opener in the final and then completed a 3–1 win with an injury-time goal.
The end of the half perhaps saved him from dismissal, but not at full time. As the final whistle went, Neymar unleashed a shot that smacked Pablo Armero in the face. Jeison Murillo, who had scored the only goal of the game, remonstrated, to which Neymar responded with a flicked backward headbutt. Carlos Bacca charged over and shoved Neymar, and they were sent off. Amid the melee that ensued, Neymar continued to abuse the referee, eventually earning himself a four-game ban.
But an Edinson Cavani goal just after the hour mark seemed to have made Barça’s task too great; having needed one goal to take the tie to extra time, it suddenly needed three to win. When Neymar swept in an 88th-minute free-kick, it seemed largely academic. But then he converted a 91st-minute penalty and, as PSG collapsed, he sent in the cross from which Sergi Roberto made it 6–1 on the night, 6–5 on aggregate. It was a euphoric moment and was celebrated as such.
Neymar liked the idea of emerging from Messi’s shadow. Then, perhaps, he could win the Ballon d’Or. His father, also his agent, liked the money that was on offer. And the marketing people at PSG and Nike liked the idea of PSG signing a big-name Brazilian. PSG’s away shirt was changed to yellow in celebration of the union. Fans celebrated a major signing, waiting for Neymar at the airport and then queuing for hours to buy shirts.
Both signings largely failed and, as Barça struggled to replace aging stalwarts, the shortcomings of the Bartomeu regime became obvious. The club floundered first in a world of fees it had helped to inflate, and then in the contracting economic environment of the pandemic. When Bartomeu finally resigned last year, club debts stood at €1.3 billion.Kazan, pretending it is closer to Moscow than it is, is in the wrong time zone, which means that dawn breaks at around 2:30 a.m.
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