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KAZAN, RUSSIA – JULY 6, 2018: Brazilian Neymar da Silva (L) and Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in a quarterback match final Knockout Stage between Brazil and Belgium in Kazan Arena at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia; Belgium won 2-1. Yegor Aleyev / TASS (Photo by Yegor AleyevTASS via Getty Images)
As if the exit of Brazil in the quarterfinals was not bad enough for The world is making fun of their star player with the Neymar Challenge.
Brazil entered the 2018 World Cup as a favorite to win the trophy, but ended up in the quarter-finals. Their defeat against Belgium means that they were eliminated by a European team at four consecutive World Cups.
There will be a lot to unpack in the next few days surrounding Brazil's exit, but Neymar's game will likely be in front and center. Since the beginning of the World Cup, it has been a topic of discussion. Unfortunately for him, not much of the focus has been on how he played. In the first game, it was about his haircut that looked like a bowl of ramen noodles. In the second, it was him who was crying at the end of the match. And from the third match, it was dive.
When Brazil beat Mexico, the Mexican fans invented the Neymar Challenge to make fun of its cinema, and now Brazil has come out of the World Cup, it has taken a life of its own:
It seems that everyone except Brazil fans are making fun of Neymar's expenses. Not only people in the World Cup fanzones do the Neymar Challenge, but also the fans at home. It's easy to do – the person who is filming has to just shout Neymar, or lightly press on someone, and a person or group of people will start rolling as he did against the Serbia. However, the best videos are easily those where the animals are involved.
While Neymar has developed a reputation for diving in the past, his posting at the World Cup could see him reach infamous levels Luis Suarez. He came into the tournament after a major injury, so he could have done it to get a well deserved rest – in total he spent 14 minutes on the field. But he did it so often that every time he broke, the referee dismissed him.
Brazil is a much stronger team than it was four years ago, and have made great progress under Titus. But they are still too dependent on Neymar – or in the case of the quarterfinals, Casemiro – to be the winners of the World Cup. He was the focal point of their attack, but with only two goals in his name, he ensured that the point of friction for everyone would be his theatrical effects instead of his goals.
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