Neymar returns to Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti: World Cup comeback owes more to faith than logic but a nation still dreams | football news

“Neymar can be important for any team,” said Cafu, the last captain to win Brazil a World Cup. Sky Sports. “Seeing Neymar playing physically and technically can help the Brazil team a lot.” It has been a long time since anyone saw it.

Talk about a psychodrama. Neymar-mania continues to engulf Brazil and the five-time world champions are wondering if they should be on top of it. But the desire for the country’s all-time leading scorer in the men’s game to have his last dance is an obsession.

Neymar was dropped from the team as a teenager in 2010 despite popular demand. In 2014, on home soil, injury robbed him of his moment and proved a role in the humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in Belo Horizonte that still haunts Brazilian football.

Injuries again hampered his momentum before the 2018 tournament and in 2022. He recovered enough in Qatar to score a thrilling extra-time goal in the quarter-finals only for Croatia to equalize in the 117th minute and knock Brazil out on penalties.

It’s all an elaborate way that Neymar’s love affair with the national team is full of passion and demands its perfect ending. He shouldn’t let the small matter of form, fitness and 34 years of wear and tear stand in his way.

Having not played for Brazil since 2023, Carlo Ancelotti has delivered a dramatic comeback, which has been welcomed by many. The veteran Italian coach had long said Neymar could only return when he proved he was ready – then chose him anyway.

Eight appearances haven’t really been enough for Santos in Brazil’s top division this year. All of them have come home, not exactly a testament to Neymar’s willingness to test himself in the toughest of environments. The case is flimsy.

He ranks among the top 10 players in the competition for chances created per game but even Ancelotti knows the truth. Despite Joao Pedro failing to make the most of his opportunities with the Selecao, it was unfortunate to be left out of the squad, he admitted.

What is Ancelotti thinking?

So, why do it? Some say it’s a testament to Ancelotti’s appetite for betting on talent. For most of his coaching career, he’s been a man who’s been happy to assemble the most talented players available and throw himself into making it all work when the moment comes.

Even now, it’s still possible to argue that Neymar’s ceiling may be higher than the rest. Find a way to unlock his talent, even briefly, and it can make a difference. Cafu knows Ancelotti well from their time together at AC Milan and trusts his judgement.

“I think so,” he replied when asked if it was the right call. “Ancelotti is an experienced coach, a coach who knows how to build a team for this type of competition. We hope Ancelotti can bring new energy to the Brazil team. He has the conditions.”

But Ancelotti has another reason for choosing Neymar. He made a calculation. The buzz around the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player will never go away this summer, whether he is selected or not.

By including him, insisting there would be no special privileges, he put the onus on Neymar to prove his fitness. The hope is that he can make his cameo, inspire rather than hinder his teammates, reduce rather than increase the pressure on others.

It’s a gamble because the questions will keep coming. He is in the squad but is he fit enough to take the field? If he is fit enough to field, is he fit enough to start? And so, Brazil hopes, it will go. All the way to the Meadowlands in July.

Romario’s echo

History tells us that Brazil is accustomed to this kind of melodrama, with domestic favorites grabbing the spotlight. Dunga resisted calls from legendary figures Pele and Romario to include Neymar in 2010, and the mistake cost him his job.

In a sense, the story has come full circle with Neymar’s return to Santos. But it is one that predates her as well. Often, Romario himself finds himself the center of this attention. His campaign for inclusion was a quadrennial debate in Brazil.

In 1994, Carlos Alberto Pereira was determined to give up Romario for little. He resisted his inclusion on the eve of the final qualifier. Brazil had to win to go to the World Cup. An injury to Muller led to a change of heart. Kafu remembers it well.

“It was the last qualifying game against Uruguay at the Maracana and Romario showed his personality when he came back into the team. He said he would solve the problem for us and he did. We won the game 2-0. Romario scored two goals.”

The rest is history. Romario starred in the World Cup and Pereira called it divine intervention. Four years later, in 1998, Mario Zagallo withdrew Romario from the squad just before the tournament due to injury and things played out very differently.

Bebeto, in front of Ronaldo in Romario’s absence, struggled to replace him and Brazil lost the final 3–0 to France. Romario soon returned scoring goals for Flamengo and mocking Jagalo in cartoon form in the toilet stall of the Rio bar he owned.

Luiz Felipe Scolari was rather luckier when he ignored calls to include Romario in his squad for the 2002 World Cup at the age of 36. The tournament had to be won to keep the critics at bay. Ancelotti has an alternative answer with Neymar.

Will it work? Cafu, the only man to have played in three consecutive finals, is optimistic. Ask him who will win the World Cup this summer and he smiles before answering emphatically. “Brazil, without a doubt. I have no doubts about the potential of this team.”

But potential and reality, especially where this 34-year-old version of Neymar is concerned, are two different things.