Opinion – Tostão: Neymar should act like Pele before the 1970 World Cup

The time of splendor of a football player is variable, for numerous physical, technical and emotional reasons and by age. There is no date set for the start of the decline.

Ronaldinho Gaúcho was masterful for a short time, when he won the title of best player in the world twice in a row. What happened? It is said that he renounced his athletic career. They always say that when a star is down.

Or would it be another reason? Ronaldinho was spectacular for two years because he found, in Barcelona and in the city inspired by Gaudí, the ideal conditions to combine technique with fantasy and special effects. The two years would have been atypical, not the rest of his career, which was excellent, but without the magic of the Barcelona era.

At the Qatar World Cup, we will see many veterans, due to their age and/or because they have been prominent in their teams for a long time, such as Thiago Silva, Daniel Alves and Neymar, in Brazil, Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo, in Portugal, Messi, in Argentina , Busquets, in Spain, Müller and Neuer, in Germany, all in condition to shine.

When a veteran fails in two or three games, he’s quickly labeled finished, even if there are other reasons for the mistakes. If Thiago Silva and Daniel Alves don’t do very well in the Cup and Brazil loses, the comments will be ready, that Tite took decadent players.

Many think that Thiago Silva plays well at Chelsea because he is protected by two other defenders. They forget that, in the national team, he plays much better. On the right wing, Tite has the option to add Daniel Alves, when necessary, as a point guard.

Müller continues to start the German national team. He, who I have never seen dribble or make an effect shot, was always efficient and decisive in a few shots. These have been less and less frequent, but it seems that the fans, the coach and the press still trust him a lot.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are going to give everything in the Copa, because they know it’s the last one, even more than they’ve never been world champions for the national teams. I remember Pele, who was criticized before the 1970 World Cup for not having the same speed and youth. Pele prepared himself like never before for the World Cup, to show the world that he was the eternal king.

I don’t know if it will be Neymar’s last Cup, but if PSG lets him, he will have to prepare himself better physically for the competition, so that no one can have any doubts that he is one of the great players in the history of football.

There are many mysteries in football about the reasons for the decline of great players. In addition to the physical and technical problems and those of age, there are emotional ones, such as anxiety, depression and the loss of the desire to shine in each game. In the last few days, I saw Hazard enter in the second half, for the Belgium national team. He, who was exceptional and vibrant at Chelsea and the 2018 World Cup, remains listless, uninspired, perspiring, as he has been when he joins Real Madrid.

Freud, in an article he wrote analyzing a group of people from different fields, who, surprisingly, lost prestige and money, called them ruined by success. The main reason, according to Freud, would be a feeling of unconscious guilt, not feeling worthy of what they had achieved.

What drives human beings, of all ages, is desire, ambition, the eagerness to overcome themselves, without losing the perception of reason, ethical values ​​and reality. Life is dream. The rest is complement.