'Desperation Sometimes...': Neymar Apologises Following Red Card Against Botafogo

Last Updated:June 02, 2025, 18:11 IST

Santos lost 0-1 to Botafogo as Artur Victor Guimaraes netted ten minutes after Neymar was brandished a second yellow for pushing the ball into the net with his hand.

Neymar.

Brazilian superstar Neymar apologised to fans following his red card for Santos during the side’s defeat against Botafogo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A on Monday.

Neymar was brandished a second yellow as he tapped the ball into the net with his hand after realizing he wouldn’t be able to get his head to the ball first in the 76th minute of the game. He was already booked for a foul late in the first half.

Neymar will miss Santos’ final game before the FIFA Club World Cup break, and with his  contract with the Brazilian side comes to an end in June.

The 33-year-old forward took to the social media platform Instagram to write, “Desperation to score a goal sometimes leads to mistakes."

“I want to apologise to my teammates and to the fans. I made a mistake, forgive me," he added.

Santos lost the game 0-1 to Botafogo as Artur Victor Guimaraes netted ten minutes after Neymar was given the marching orders and Santos finished out the game with a man short on the field.

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“If I hadn’t been sent off, I’m sure we would have gotten the three points. Congratulations to the team for today’s game. You can put these three points on my account," the national team’s all-time top scorer said.

Neymar went on to take a dig at the poor quality of refereeing before stating that it was his opinion and asked not to be punished in tongue-in-cheek fashion.

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“The second yellow card has to be shown, but the referee has to be kidding about the first one," Neymar added.

“It’s one foul and I’m already being shown a yellow," the former Barcelona and PSG star continued.

“It’s incredible how many bad referees there are out there. That’s my opinion, please don’t punish me even more," he said completing his post with a couple of laughing emoticons.

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