As he bounces back from a less-than-ideal World Cup showing and gets ready to suit up for PSG, Neymar’s been in his hometown for the 2018 edition of "Neymar Jr.’s Five." The five-a-side tournament consists of teams from more than 60 countries who battle it out in tournament qualifiers for a chance to play in the World Final at Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr. in Praia Granda, Brazil.
Neymar provides one of the highlights of the finals event, taking the field with his own five-a-side squad. To no one’s surprise yesterday, Neymar put on a bit of a show for the crowd when he found himself 1v1 against a teenager from the other team, providing some hypnotizing foot work.
However, it’s clear the boy was not thrown off by the star’s fancy moves and it seems the Brazilian underestimated his opposition’s defensive skills. The boy actually won the ball off Neymar. Yeah, Neymar just wasn’t going to let that fly at his own tournament on his home turf. Before the boy could maybe get excited about his accomplishment, he was swiftly given a forearm shiver by the PSG man.
Neymar doesn't like it when you take the ball off him pic.twitter.com/lfxeKy0edT
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 25, 2018
Referee! What’s the most miraculous part of this? Neymar himself actually stayed on his feet after initiating the contact. Alright, maybe it’s time to cut the guy a little slack, especially after his recent FIFA Men's Best snub. It’s going to be alright, Ney, just don’t take your aggression out on the innocent youth.
Regardless of what FIFA may say right now, the boy can take some pride in the fact that he took the ball off of one of the best players in the world.