At 30 years old, Neymar is counting down. This is how the star faces the season in which he will play a World Cup for the third time in his career. He has already indicated that the World Cup to start in November, in Qatar, should be his last attempt to reach the top with the Brazilian team.
In this possibly final bid for the biggest cup, the player has sought to demonstrate that he has adopted a different behavior since the holidays, paying more attention to physical and psychological preparation. He showed up a week in advance for the pre-season and, during the rest period, avoided exposing a busy life on social media, preferring to highlight activities related to football.
As far as possible, he also tried to stay away from major controversies when discussing his departure from Paris Saint-Germain. According to the European press, the Brazilian’s goodbye was a wish of striker Kylian Mbappé, who rejected a well-going deal with Real Madrid and signed a gigantic contract to stay at the Parisian club.
French newspapers pointed out that PSG listed Neymar as a name to be negotiated, precisely because of the problematic relationship with the company’s star. At every moment, as he had to do on Friday (19), coach Christophe Galtier is forced to say, in an unconvincing way, that “there is no unease between the two”.
The loudest recent noise came in the last round of the French Championship, when Mbappé missed a penalty kick in the duel with Montpellier. A new opportunity arose in the penalty spot, in the same game, and Neymar made a point of introducing himself – and converting the shot.
In three official games this season, the Brazilian has already scored five goals. He scored two in the French Super Cup, decided in a single game with a 4-0 thrashing of Nantes. He scored one more against Clermont, in the opening of the Frances, with three assists and a tribute to Jô Soares. And he returned to swing the net twice against Montpellier.
Although the opponents are not on the same level as the starred squad of Paris, which still has Lionel Messi, the performance of shirt 10 left a good impression.
“He is fulfilling what he told Tite he would do”, says Juca Kfouri, columnist for Sheet. “Of all the players at PSG, he was the one who came back better. [das férias]. And he is quite a player. For now, the outlook is the best possible,” he adds.
Juca questions to what extent the possible disagreements in the PSG squad are real. But he believes Neymar has more maturity to deal with them than Mbappé. “He is more mature. If it affects someone, it will affect the youngest”, he says, referring to the 23-year-old Frenchman.
The experience, of course, comes with an older age. But even physically, São Paulo seems to be in a better position than he was before the last World Cup. In 2018, he arrived in distant Russia in the best shape, as he had surgery on his right toe three and a half months before debut.
The return to the pitch took place just two weeks before the competition, in friendlies of the selection. At the World Cup, he scored two goals, against Costa Rico and Mexico, and faced a lot of criticism for his performance – he grew in fame as a “cai-cai” because of his successive falls on the field.
After the Cup, injuries continued to plague him. In the 2021/22 season, he made just 28 appearances, with 13 goals and eight assists. A serious ankle problem put him out of action for over two months. On the field, the great frustration was the fall in the round of 16 of the Champions League, in a comeback from Real Madrid.
For former player Casagrande, Neymar still hasn’t managed to get back to his best form. He cites, above all, the performance presented in the last two editions of the biggest tournament in Europe.
“Neymar has been bad in the Champions League in the last two seasons. He hasn’t scored any goals in the last edition. He hurt the same foot a few times. And he doesn’t have the same start he had four years ago. He doesn’t have the change of direction on the field as he had “, opines the columnist of Sheet.
Even with the athlete’s good start in the games for France, the former player waits for the start of the next edition of the Champions to see how the shirt 10 behaves in big games. “Then, yes, we will have a parameter of his technical quality in a difficult tournament.”
In Qatar, the expectation is that the athletes are in peak physical shape. The tournament will be played in the middle of the European season. Until then, most players should accumulate, at most, between national and continental leagues, 22 games.
“This World Cup will be different from the previous World Cups of the 21st century”, says Paulo Vinicius Coelho, also a columnist for Sheet. “This time, the players will reach the apex. And dedication during this period will be very important [pré-Copa]. If you have dedication, the chance of having an injury is much lower. And I think Neymar understood that and has a chance to reach the Cup at a very good technical and physical level.”
The journalist, however, makes a warning. Although the technical level of the French Championship is not the same, for example, as seen in English, games in France tend to be more violent. “It’s a championship that seems harmless, but it’s dangerous at times.”
This Sunday (21), Neymar’s PSG face Lille, at 3:45 pm (GMT), broadcast on the Star+ platform.
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