Neymar weeps for the end of his world – and his place in Brazil history
Matthew Cannon 
The saddest thing, perhaps, for Neymar is that the defining image of Brazil’s 2022 World Cup will be his tears. It won’t be that moment when he scored a goal for the ages. It won’t be the dancing, or the flicks, or all the fun they had until this point. It will always come back to that wrought scene when Neymar gave in to his emotions. There was no fight left in him. And he wept and he wept and he wept.
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They are brutal, these penalty shootouts. One miss, one save, one inch the wrong way and whole legacies can be redefined. And these were the exact moments when Neymar realised he would not be winning the trophy that, in Brazil, means more than anything. He was not even going to get his turn as Brazil’s fifth penalty-taker. Everything happened around him. Brazil will not be getting a sixth star on their shirt and the wearer of their No 10 shirt wept and wept and wept.
Not at first. His immediate reaction was to sink to the floor, as though he no longer trusted his legs. He spent so long in that position Thiago Silva almost had to peel him off the grass. But it was not long before Neymar was down again. He was still trying to compute everything, still taking it in, working out just how bad it was going to feel when the shock wore off. He already looked broken.
On the other side of the halfway line, the Croatia players had invited their children on the pitch to join them in the victory photographs. These kids were having all sorts of fun. They had no idea that, at this stage of the World Cup, exhilarating highs go hand in hand with excruciating lows. And so they went to find out.
One boy broke off from the group. His name was Leonardo and he was 10 years old. His sister, Manuela, followed him. She was a couple of years younger, a few steps behind, also intrigued. They were Ivan Perisic’s kids and they had seen Neymar in the centre circle. And, in the early depths of his trauma, he suddenly realised there were two young children by his side. They had come to say hello, presumably. Or maybe just to see what he looked like close-up. Leonardo got a pat on the head before he returned to his father’s side.
It would have needed a flint heart not to be touched by this scene and, though Neymar was still managing to hold himself together, it was never going to be long before everything came pouring out. He tried to cover his face, but everyone knew anyway. There is nowhere to go in these moments.
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And so, on the night he equalled Pele’s record with his 77th goal for the Selecao, Neymar was left to reflect that he had missed out again on the trophy that would settle any argument about his credentials, or lack of, to be recognised as one of Brazil’s genuine greats.
Some will argue that a man with his record of achievement already qualifies for greatness. And, yes, maybe that argument stacks up when you look at the list of players who are behind him on Brazil’s list of all-time scorers. Neymar has worn that beautiful yellow shirt with distinction.
These, presumably, were the kind of tender words that his team-mates used on him. First, it was Thiago Silva. Then, it was Dani Alves, once a team-mate at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Others tried, too. But it was futile. What can anyone really say in these moments?
This is the World Cup and Neymar plays for the country that has won it more times than any other. Nobody needs to remind him about what it means to his people because he is reminded of it all the time. He has had it thrown at him for longer than he would probably care to remember.
Yet Neymar’s experiences over three World Cups are unhappy ones and, at the age of 30, the latest ordeal might be the most painful yet. He is not too old to figure for Brazil at the next tournament in 2026. Lionel Messi, after all, is 34 and not doing too shabbily for Argentina.
Who can say, though, whether Neymar will still have that precious ability to bend matches to his will? Will he still have the same magic in his feet? Will we still be arguing about who exactly he is, his legacy, and why he is not revered in the way, perhaps, that happens with some of the other Brazilian superstars?
GO DEEPER
The stage is set for Neymar - will he finally take his place among the greats?
Qatar had felt like his best opportunity. He had been in brilliant form and, just as importantly, he was injury-free. Everything was set up for him to make up for what he had experienced at his previous two World Cups.
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In 2018, for example, when Neymar was not at peak fitness after a fractured metatarsal and, lacking his usual sureness of touch, he could not stop Brazil going out to Belgium.
Or perhaps you remember what happened in 2014 when Neymar went up for an aerial challenge with Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zuniga in another quarter-final. Zuniga’s knee went into his opponent’s back. It broke the third vertebrae in Neymar’s spine. That was the first time he cried in a World Cup and, in his absence, it felt like the crown was knocked off football royalty.
Brazil played Germany in the semi-final, at the Maracana no less, and conceded five goals in a 19-minute blitz during the first half. It was Germany playing the beautiful game in Brazil’s backyard, and there was nothing Neymar could do about it.
But this? This was worse. “The feeling is really bad,” Neymar said afterwards, as he dragged himself through the media’s mixed zone. “It’s worse today than what happened in the past. I don’t know what will happen from now on in the Brazilian team, but now it’s time to mourn.”
Neymar’s worth to the current Brazil side can be measured by Tite’s reaction when it became obvious that Croatia were going to be far more obdurate opponents than South Korea in the last round.
One by one, Brazil’s coach started removing the front players who were struggling to find any kind of jogo bonito. Antony replaced the ineffectual Raphina. Rodrygo took over from Vinicius Junior. Pedro entered the play in place of Richarlison. Tite had removed three-quarters of his forward line.
So why did he keep on Neymar when he, too, was flickering only sporadically? The answer, in extra time, was spectacular. Neymar was on the move. A couple of one-twos, a change of acceleration, a slalom through a congested penalty area. A shuffle, a re-adjustment of his feet and then a shot that was still rising as it hit the back of the net.
This was peak Neymar and, at that precise moment, it felt like a reminder of what it was supposed to be like to watch Brazil in a World Cup.
Everyone who follows this sport should know what that means. It’s everything that comes with those colours. It’s Carlos Alberto’s goal in 1970. It’s Pele’s feint against Uruguay. It’s Bebeto’s cradle-rocking. It’s Josimar’s rocket, Eder’s volley, Zico’s magic. It’s Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario and all the rest.
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Outside the Education City stadium, two young boys could be seen sporting Ronaldo’s haircut from the 2002 World Cup. Their heads had been completely shaven apart from an awkward, triangular clump at the front. They smiled for photographs, showing the braces on their teeth, and of course it was funny. Of course we took pictures and laughed even more when they did the Ronaldo goal celebration.
Made some friends at Brazil v Croatia already #BRA
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) December 9, 2022
The idea, though, was that Neymar would show modern-day Brazil what it had been missing for the past 20 years. Or, as the tournament favourites, that he would help them to break this run of going out of the World Cup to European nations (France 2006, Netherlands 2010, Germany 2014, Belgium 2018).
What happened instead will, for Neymar, probably always be just a blur.
Croatia’s population, to put into context, is just over four million. Brazil’s is 214 million. Sao Paulo alone has roughly two-and-a-half times as many people living within its boundaries as the whole of Croatia.
Neymar said a prayer. He bit into the top of his shirt. Rodrygo’s penalty was saved, Marquinhos’ effort thudded off the post. Brazil had come up short again and these are the moments, however unfair it might seem, that will help shape Neymar’s part in history.
(Top photo: Robert Michael/picture alliance via Getty Images)
