Destiny’s least favourite child, Neymar bows out without a FIFA World Cup

Then came Neymar. Ostentatious gait. Snobbish smile. The air of a man untouched by consequence.

“Onde você quer?” he asked. (‘Where do you want it?’ )

“Tenta na trave,” said Nyland. ‘Hit the woodwork.’

Neymar didn’t. Back of the net. The sequence had reached its conclusion. Or, did it? Neymar walked up to the goalkeeper and whispered: “Comigo não, otário.” ‘Not with me, **ucker.’

Reality soon intruded. It was effectively the final kick of a match Brazil had already lost. A humiliation: only 34% possession against Norway. Their earliest World Cup exit since 1990.

The smirk dissolved into tears. Inconsolable, Neymar would announce his retirement from the national team. That penalty amounted to nothing. A fleeting moment of irrelevant brilliance.

And herein lies a career encapsulated. Radiating flamboyance in moments, but overwhelmed by the larger story unfolding around it.

Unwanted Prodigy

“Não faça o que Menotti fez,” a journalist yelled at Dunga, as the erstwhile coach announced his squad for the 2010 World Cup. ‘Don’t do what Menotti did.’

In 1978, César Luis Menotti had omitted a 17-year-old Diego Maradona from Argentina’s World Cup squad, deeming him too inexperienced. Thirty-two years later, Dunga reached the same conclusion about an 18-year-old Neymar.

Pele and Romario urged Dunga to reconsider. A “Neymar é Seleção” petition drew thousands. Fans and journalists gathered outside Dunga’s house until he called the police.

Argentina stopped asking questions once Menotti lifted the trophy without Maradona. Brazil only asked louder after a quarter-final exit to the Netherlands.

Dunga lost his job, and his successor, Mano Menezes, had to save his job by selecting Neymar.

The protests were vindicated within 28 minutes: a debut goal against the USA. Six weeks later, he was gone. Dropped for indiscipline after berating Santos manager Dorival Júnior for refusing to let him take a penalty.

On occasions, he wasn’t refused; he was flawless. In the 2010 San–São derby, he unveiled the paradinha, freezing Rogério Ceni before calmly scoring.

‘Why don’t you hit it normally?’ a journalist asked.

The reply: “You don’t stand out by just doing the normal things.”

2013. Brazil marched for two causes: against corruption on the streets and behind Neymar in the stadiums. Then came the Confederations Cup.

Only a trophy could alleviate the nation’s troubles — be it psychologically. If they didn’t, a disaster was waiting, warned the current president, Lula. Brazil won. Neymar was irresistible: four goals, two assists, and the Golden Ball.

“I could see myself winning the World Cup,” he claimed.

Cruel Destiny

A year after the triumph, Neymar would exit the World Cup in tears. Quarter-final against Colombia. A knee to the back fractured his vertebrae. A few inches to either side, and he would have had to be dependent on a wheelchair forever.

“My destiny was taken away from me, but I will come back stronger,” he said.

Destiny’s least favourite child. The Confederations Cup was his first senior trophy for Brazil. It would also be his last.

Neymar arrived in Russia in 2018 with a fractured metatarsal barely healed, and still left with four goal contributions. Only, they came up against the greatest Belgian squad ever assembled. At Qatar in 2022, he had an ankle injury, but still waltzed past a sea of bodies clad in chequered red and white to score in the quarter-final.

By 2026, time had become the opponent. An ACL rupture, hamstring and calf injuries restricted Neymar to barely three-and-a-half matches for Brazil between the previous World Cup and the current one. Yet, in the final act of his international career, he still found the net. With swagger.

Perhaps there is an alternate timeline. One where Juan Camilo Zúñiga’s knee never crashes into his back in Fortaleza. One where Thibaut Courtois doesn’t produce the save of the tournament in Kazan. One where Croatia never find their equaliser in Al Rayyan. One where Erling Braut Haaland doesn’t leap in East Rutherford.

In that timeline, Neymar retires draped in medals. In this one, he leaves behind something far less tangible. The elasticos. The rainbow flicks. The mohawks. The showboating. But not a World Cup.

Destiny’s least favourite child bows out.