Neymar is currently going through the most difficult moments in his professional career. Although there is still a lot of time this year for the situation to change, we can say with certainty that 2022 is not his year.
When his former teammate and close friend from Barcelona Lionel Messi decided to join him at the Princes ‘Park in August, the Brazilian must have dreamed of a brilliant year to come: first, winning the Champions League as an imperative at the Princes’ Park – next to Messi a magical trio and by many the best attack in the world is the wizard Killian Mbape.
Then, the entire Brazilian public hopes and dreams of a potential triumph for “Carioca” at the World Cup. Neymar is expected to lead Celesao on an adventure in Qatar to attack the sixth trophy of the world champion. Instead, his form is declining day by day, and PSG fans are tired of his antics and erratic games.
The harsh reception and whistles he received after the club’s defeat by Real Madrid seem like a point of no return at the Princes’ Park for the Brazilian, who looks like a shadow of the players from previous years throughout the season. The upcoming matches in the qualifications for the World Cup in March against Chile and Bolivia come to him as a straw of salvation and a chance to relax at home and prove his class again away from ridicule and views from the French capital.
The statistics of the 30-year-old this season do not suit a player of the same class as Neymar in the past few years. In 21 games this season for PSG in all competitions, Neymar scored only six goals and recorded three assists, and was left without a goal during the club’s (non) adventure in the Champions League.
In the middle of a bad series of games, he had to take another long break due to an injury due to ankle problems, which is why he also missed the last two games of the national team in the qualifications for the World Cup in January.
And just this week, another blow followed: reports from France stating that the striker barely trains at PSG, and even that he appears at training in a state that looks like he is drunk.
True or not, that can only further damage his reputation in Paris, and at the same time damage the image of him on the other side of the Atlantic, which even the coach of the Brazilian national team Tito admitted in the preparations for the clash with Chile on Thursday.
- Athletes may need a different approach, because we are all different as human beings. We are worried about him – he told reporters.
Tite still believes in Neymar’s undoubted talent, and on Thursday he will pair it with Vinicius Junior and Ajax ace Antonio in a match in which Brazil would definitely ruin the thin hopes of Chileans to qualify for Qatar if they win.
Moreover, Neymar is still Carioca’s top scorer in the qualifiers with seven goals. Desperate to return the World Cup trophy to home soil after 20 years, it is certain that the Brazilian coach will choose the team and the starting lineup in Qatar according to their merits, and only those in top form will have their place in the team.
Neymar’s prestige and abilities are enough to bring him a place in the team in the great competition of strikers, but if he does not raise his game in the coming months, he risks winning a supporting role in the World Cup, which he announced earlier may be his last.
However, it is not too late for him. The examples of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and PSG executioner Karim Benzema show that football can be played at an elite level after the 30th birthday and that Neymar has little reason to worry if he dedicates himself to training and regains the former splendor in the game that adorned him. .
However, in order to do that, he has to focus on the game itself and get out of a series of bad games and questionable discipline in training.
