Neymar spent most of the first nine minutes of a crucial Champions League second leg against Borussia Dortmund on the floor. In a way, it was the best evidence of how much the match meant to him.
Neymar may or may not stay with PSG next season. In the meantime, it’s clear he is doing everything in his power to win the Champions League for his wealthy Qatari benefactors.
Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland has rightfully earned his spot as the sport’s next sensation. Whether it’s his incredible goals or his speed, the Norwegian teen has turned heads in 2020.
But did you know that before being a star footballer, Haaland was an icon in the rap community?
PSG defeated Lille 2-0 on Sunday to go 10 points clear of Marseille at the top of the Ligue 1 table. Both of the goals were scored by Neymar — the first a sensational effort from the top of the box and the second from the penalty spot — who celebrated his brace by paying tribute to Kobe Bryant. Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were involved in a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of everyone on board.
For keen followers of the world’s game, Feb. 5 is something of a holiday. A startling number of legendary players were born on that day, from Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to Gheorghe Hagi and the inimitable Neymar.
But this year, Feb. 5 will come with a bit less fanfare, a bit less pomp and revelry.
This year, Neymar won’t be having an exorbitantly extravagant party to celebrate his 28th birthday.
Injuries, a contentious World Cup and the personal admission of a desire to abandon the PSG project have all adversely affected Neymar over the past two years — so much so that he found himself omitted entirely from the 30-man list for the 2019 Ballon d’Or.
Fresh off a hamstring injury that cost him six games, 37 days and a myriad of hot takes, Neymar returned to the pitch on Friday for first-place PSG’s encounter with seventh-place Lille in Ligue 1.
In the midst of it all, it’s unfortunate how much the off-the-pitch noise engulfs the 27-year-old Brazilian. He’ll certainly never be Mexico’s cup of tea, but notwithstanding tribal feuds, he remains football’s second-best attraction behind Lionel Messi (I have all the time in the world for the Cristiano Ronaldo G.O.A.T. argument, but he's really not that fun to watch anymore).
A new study has revealed the top earners on Instagram, and it’s time to drop everything and focus on becoming an influencer. We’ll also need to score 701 professional goals, get shredded, win five Ballon d’Ors and five Champions League crowns, but we’ll worry about that later. First, let’s just dream about taking home $975K for every sponsored post we throw out there.
It’s not been the best week for Neymar. On Monday, the Brazilian missed out on the 30-player shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award. On Tuesday, he missed PSG’s 5-0 beatdown of Club Brugge due to a hamstring injury he picked up on international duty.
It’s easy to get cynical about the Brasil Global Tour sponsored by Chevrolet, which is simply adspeak for the series of globetrotting friendlies that the Seleção contests in between Copa Américas, World Cups and World Cup qualifying.
In the preposterously bloated football calendar, nobody likes a meaningless friendly. But what’s Brazil supposed to do during the international break with no qualifying stage for the 2020 Copa América and with 2022 World Cup qualifying matches not beginning until March of 2021?