Neymar’s botched tribute to Maradona & Messi has probably ended his Santos reunion
Neymar‘s comeback tour hit another snag – in farcical circumstances – after he was shown a second yellow card in farcical circumstances, in what might be his final appearance for boyhood club Santos.
It’s been an interesting few months for the 33-year-old as he eyes realising his ultimate dream of lifting the World Cup with Brazil.
The former Barcelona and PSG superstar had his lucrative Al-Hilal contract terminated back in January, having mustered just seven appearances and one goal for the club, the vast majority of his stint there spent on the treatment table after rupturing his ACL shortly after signing.
The most important thing, for now, is that Neymar is back on the pitch. He’s had his inevitable knocks and injury niggles, but he’s now played twice as many matches back at Santos as he managed after 18 months out in the Saudi Pro League wilderness.
He’s not the unstoppable force of nature he was in his peak, but we have been treated to the odd glimpse of the old razzle dazzle.
So far Neymar’s scored directly from a corner and pulled off a classic rainbow flick in trademark style.
One too many kicks on the ankle means he isn’t quite as quick or as lithe as he once was, but you can see that impudent fire is still burning. Ultimately, Neymar still yearns to entertain.
That was particularly evident with his ridiculous disallowed goal against Botafogo, in which he cheekily jabbed home like a seasoned handball player.
Neymar (Santos) disallowed goal vs Botafogo
byu/AMR42 insoccer
Memes and photoshops have inevitably since flooded Brazilian social media and WhatsApp groups.
Diego Maradona got away with it with his iconic ‘Hand of God’ goal against England. Less famously, so did the great Lionel Messi in eerily similar fashion – against Espanyol, all the way back in 2007 when he was still a teenager.
Neymar wasn’t quite so lucky. It was clearly a split-second instinct call, because he evidently didn’t think through the implications of football in 2025 and how VAR never would’ve let him get away with it.
The referee spotted the infringement and dished out a second yellow. To rub salt into his wounds, Botafogo and scored to make it 1-0 shortly afterwards in the dying minutes of the game.
He’ll now be suspended for Santos’ next outing against Fortaleza. Which just so happens to be their only match before the expiration of his short-term contract, which runs until the end of June. The Brazilian league will pause for the Club World Cup after the next round of fixtures.
“I made a mistake, forgive me!” Neymar responded on social media.
“Today, if I hadn’t been sent off, I’m sure we would have gotten the three points. You can count these three points against me!”
Who knows what happens next for Neymar. There’s still talk of him joining a Club World Cup team.
New Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti hasn’t ruled out a return, but he omitted the Selecao’s all-time top goalscorer from his first squad.
“In this call-up, I selected the players who are doing well,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“Neymar has just returned from injury, everyone knows his quality and we are counting on him”
Watch this space. Whether or not Neymar can relive his former glories, you know this final chapter won’t be boring.
For better or worse, Neymar doesn’t do boring.
By Nestor Watach
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