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How did a “man who loves life” beat a genius qualified to compete with Messi and Ronaldo?
“Goodbye Neymar… You danced too much off the pitch and forgot how to dance on it when we needed you.” With this ironic and cruel expression of the funeral, the Brazilian newspaper Globo chose to deliver its final elegy on a night when the samba masks fell and the last glow of Neymar da Silva’s “space dance” faded.
Norway’s thrashing on that sad World Cup night was not only the exit of the greatest team in World Cup history, but a tragic fall for the greatest natural talent the country of football has produced in the new millennium. The fall of the man who left the grass with bowed head, not because his adversary was stronger, but because his graceful feet slipped behind the walls in the bustle of a chosen life.
This guy had everything to sit on the right side of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but in the end he chose to be the hero of the night stories and forgot how to be the savior of the nation in the light of day.
The Brazilian press was not kind to his old lover. Along with Globo’s elegy, UOL described the scene as “the tragic end of a king without a crown, and a genius who has lost his throne in his hands.”
In contrast, the global analytics studios were filled with palpable bitterness as former stars commented: “This is an undeserved end to one of 21st century football’s greatest talents, but it is also an inevitable end for a man who preferred the hustle and bustle of life to the rigors of fame.”
The ultimate microphone battle
The last minute of the Norway match summed up all the controversies that Neymar experienced during his career.
At a time when Brazil’s exit was clinically decided, the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil’s goal, a free ticket to reduce the difference, but it would not save Samba in any way.
At that point, Neymar advanced to the ball and instead of focusing on the net, engaged in a melodramatic scene of heated verbal exchanges with the Norway goalkeeper, who was trying to provoke him.
Neymar broke the quiet protocol of the World Cup and exchanged words in a scene that reflected the wounded pride of a man who sees his glory slipping through his fingers. Even in his last moments, Neymar could not contain his emotional feelings. He got into a sideline fight with the goalkeeper to satisfy his personal pride, forgetting the wound of the nation.
The amazing thing, and what made me cry at the same time, is that after that exchange, Neymar hit the ball with a terrible, magical and amazing technique that no one on Earth has mastered. It appeared in the net to announce a goal without collective value, but it served as a final reminder to the world. “I’m the amazing Neymar, I’m the magic that no one else has, but I’m leaving now.”
Man Neymar wins
Neymar was never just a footballer, but rather a social and emotional phenomenon who refused to submit to the rigors of professionalism.
This lanky Brazilian had the technical ability, innate skill and ability to dribble in tight spaces that qualified him to undoubtedly compete with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi during their legendary era when they dominated the possibilities on the planet.
He was the rightful heir to the football throne and the only one who had the “magic mix” to break the duality of Portuguese and Argentine.
But Neymar’s real crisis was not tactical, but rather psychological and emotional. Neymar, the “human creature” who loves life’s desires and loves parties and noise, won over Neymar, the “dedicated athlete”.
Neymar could not overcome the temptations of fame and money that surrounded him from his teenage years at Santos, so he fled the green rectangle and its strict schedule to live his own life, preferring the role of “rock star” to the role of battalion chief.
The new Ronaldinho, as described by L’Equipe, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors. A prodigious Brazilian talent who prefers fleeting pleasure to long-term dominance, so repeated injuries take a heavy physical toll on a body that hasn’t received the rigorous care and commitment that Ronaldo and Messi have given their bodies for two decades.
The sad end of the lost Galactico
Everyone in the analysis studios agreed that Neymar has put himself in the eternal comparison of “what could have been”.
Neither Paris Saint-Germain nor the Mercato have recouped the millions at Al Hilal, that pure passion Neymar lost since he left the glitter of Barcelona in 2017 to escape Messi’s shadow, only to be drowned in the shadow of his injuries and personal whims.
Coming off against Norway with muffled sobs and tears streaming down the yellow samba shirt was the final scene of a sad story. The story of a boy who entertained millions but was stingy with his talent for discipline.
Neymar now leaves the 2026 World Cup with plenty of money, plenty of fans and plenty of showpiece goals, but his coffers lack the gold trophy he was promised as a child and his story lacks the lofty status he deserved as one of the game’s geniuses for the ages.
It’s the end his magic didn’t deserve, but the end his feet and decisions left the green box to leave Neymar forever… the last dancer to turn off the music before the party ends.
