The bards and poets will need to have been smiling. It was the ending they might have written themselves: a closing act composed to perfection.
Strip away context for a second, and replicate on the ultimate telling act of Brazil versus Norway. A penalty. Strolling up was Neymar. Brazil’s highest scorer, with extra objectives than Pele and greater than Rivaldo and Ronaldinho mixed. A purpose would make him solely the second Brazilian to attain at 4 World Cups.
And towards him, Ørjan Nyland. Impregnable. He had denied Bruno Guimaraes from the spot, after which the plain Vinicius Junior. Each Brazilian assault disappeared.
Then got here Neymar. Ostentatious gait. Snobbish smile. The air of a person untouched by consequence.
“Onde você quer?” he requested. (‘The place would you like it?’ )
“Tenta na trave,” mentioned Nyland. ‘Hit the woodwork.’
Neymar didn’t. Again of the web. The sequence had reached its conclusion. Or, did it? Neymar walked as much as the goalkeeper and whispered: “Comigo não, otário.” ‘Not with me, **ucker.’
Actuality quickly intruded. It was successfully the ultimate kick of a match Brazil had already misplaced. A humiliation: solely 34% possession towards Norway. Their earliest World Cup exit since 1990.
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The smirk dissolved into tears. Inconsolable, Neymar would announce his retirement from the nationwide staff. That penalty amounted to nothing. A fleeting second of irrelevant brilliance.
And herein lies a profession encapsulated. Radiating flamboyance in moments, however overwhelmed by the bigger story unfolding round it.
Undesirable Prodigy
“Não faça o que Menotti fez,” a journalist yelled at Dunga, because the erstwhile coach introduced his squad for the 2010 World Cup. ‘Don’t do what Menotti did.’
In 1978, César Luis Menotti had omitted a 17-year-old Diego Maradona from Argentina’s World Cup squad, deeming him too inexperienced. Thirty-two years later, Dunga reached the identical conclusion about an 18-year-old Neymar.
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Pele and Romario urged Dunga to rethink. A “Neymar é Seleção” petition drew 1000’s. Followers and journalists gathered exterior Dunga’s home till he known as the police.
Argentina stopped asking questions as soon as Menotti lifted the trophy with out Maradona. Brazil solely requested louder after a quarter-final exit to the Netherlands.
Dunga misplaced his job, and his successor, Mano Menezes, needed to save his job by choosing Neymar.
The protests had been vindicated inside 28 minutes: a debut purpose towards the USA. Six weeks later, he was gone. Dropped for indiscipline after berating Santos supervisor Dorival Júnior for refusing to let him take a penalty.
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On events, he wasn’t refused; he was flawless. Within the 2010 San–São derby, he unveiled the paradinha, freezing Rogério Ceni earlier than calmly scoring.
‘Why don’t you hit it usually?’ a journalist requested.
The reply: “You don’t stand out by simply doing the traditional issues.”
2013. Brazil marched for 2 causes: towards corruption on the streets and behind Neymar within the stadiums. Then got here the Confederations Cup.
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Solely a trophy may alleviate the nation’s troubles — be it psychologically. In the event that they didn’t, a catastrophe was ready, warned the present president, Lula. Brazil received. Neymar was irresistible: 4 objectives, two assists, and the Golden Ball.
“I may see myself successful the World Cup,” he claimed.
Merciless Future
A yr after the triumph, Neymar would exit the World Cup in tears. Quarter-final towards Colombia. A knee to the again fractured his vertebrae. A couple of inches to both facet, and he would have needed to be depending on a wheelchair perpetually.
“My future was taken away from me, however I’ll come again stronger,” he mentioned.
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Future’s least favorite youngster. The Confederations Cup was his first senior trophy for Brazil. It might even be his final.
Neymar arrived in Russia in 2018 with a fractured metatarsal barely healed, and nonetheless left with 4 purpose contributions. Solely, they got here up towards the best Belgian squad ever assembled. At Qatar in 2022, he had an ankle damage, however nonetheless waltzed previous a sea of our bodies clad in chequered purple and white to attain within the quarter-final.
By 2026, time had change into the opponent. An ACL rupture, hamstring and calf accidents restricted Neymar to barely three-and-a-half matches for Brazil between the earlier World Cup and the present one. But, within the closing act of his worldwide profession, he nonetheless discovered the web. With swagger.
Maybe there’s an alternate timeline. One the place Juan Camilo Zúñiga’s knee by no means crashes into his again in Fortaleza. One the place Thibaut Courtois doesn’t produce the save of the event in Kazan. One the place Croatia by no means discover their equaliser in Al Rayyan. One the place Erling Braut Haaland doesn’t leap in East Rutherford.
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In that timeline, Neymar retires draped in medals. On this one, he leaves behind one thing far much less tangible. The elasticos. The rainbow flicks. The mohawks. The showboating. However not a World Cup.
Future’s least favorite youngster bows out.