'I started here, I finished here'
Neymar did not wait for a press conference. A fortnight ago, minutes after Brazil crashed out of the World Cup and still close to tears, he told Globo what much of the country had been dreading. "I tried, I tried. Now it's over. I started here, I finished here," he said, per ESPN. Al Jazeera carried the same message, with Neymar adding that it had started for him at MetLife Stadium and finished there too.
It was raw and pitchside rather than any formal announcement. Emotional declarations made in the wreckage of defeat have been softened before, and this was a player's own verdict in the heat of the moment, not the federation's. But four outlets reported the words the same way, and the meaning was hard to mistake. As far as his Brazil career goes, Neymar sounded finished.
Whether the CBF marks it with a proper send-off, or whether Neymar revisits the decision once the sting fades, is the open part. What is not in doubt is what he said, and how he said it.
The night it unravelled
The exit was Brazil's earliest since 1990. Norway won 2-1 in the last 16 at MetLife Stadium, Erling Haaland scoring twice, per ESPN. Haaland's double did the damage, and for long stretches Brazil looked short of answers.
Neymar, on as a substitute, converted a penalty deep in stoppage time. It made the score 2-1 but it was a consolation and little else, arriving well after the tie had slipped away.
There was a symmetry to the farewell. Neymar wore the No 10 to the last, and since his exit Vinicius Junior has taken the number, Sports Illustrated reported, one generation handing the shirt to the man now expected to lead.
The record he leaves
The numbers settle any argument. Neymar's late penalty was his 80th goal for Brazil, three clear of Pele's 77, per ESPN and Bleacher Report, which leaves him as the nation's all-time leading scorer. His 130 caps sit second only to Cafu's 142, and he found the net at four World Cups, matching Pele.
He leaves the Selecao as its most prolific forward, a mantle that long felt like Pele's alone. That it came in a tournament Brazil would sooner forget only sharpens the mix of pride and regret.
For all the injuries, the transfers and the noise that trailed him for a decade, that is a haul few Brazilians will ever get close to. It was not, in the end, the tournament he wanted. It rarely was.
Who carries the attack now
The open question is succession. With Neymar stepping away, the No 10 and everything bound up in it point towards Vinicius Junior and a younger group still finding their feet on the biggest stage.
Whoever fills the role, the comparison will follow them around. Neymar shouldered Brazil's creative load for the best part of a decade, and 80 goals is a target the next man will chase for years.
Two weeks on, with Spain crowned world champions, Brazil's early departure looks starker still. The next competitive window will show whether the door is truly shut, and whether the words he gave Globo hold once the emotion drains away. For now, one of the great Brazilian careers looks to have ended much the way it played out: in full view, and on his own terms.
Sources
- ESPN
- Al Jazeera
- Sports Illustrated
- Bleacher Report
- Cover photo: Neymar / CC/Wikimedia (see file page) via Wikimedia Commons.
No comments yet