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By Joe Callaghan
Brilliance. Book ended with bullshit. Or maybe it should be returned.
Anyway, the story of Neymar and this World Cup contains a good amount of one and an unhealthy amount of the other.
Where this story goes from here, we do not know yet, but it's okay. The history of Brazil in Russia 2018 has not been told yet. The last chapter of Neymar, however, saw his personal plot turn back to the so-tired tropes that he teased had been left behind
. His histrionics have returned to uglier fashion than before at Samara and now this magnificent World Cup has to accept the reality that a figure that forms to potentially be its most dominant is also the most shameless. And that, in itself, is a shame.
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Finally, the Mexico's turned out to be not a match for Tite's sides during a hot afternoon in Samara yesterday. Brazil was doubled with a strong and solid defense and hard work in the frantic first moments spent on the back foot. They were ripe, reasonable too, and patiently waited for other moments to come – the ones where they would decide this game.
While their opponents were tired and the spaces of the Cosmos Arena were expanding in the incessant heat of the evening , Brazil played a really wonderful offensive football to go with stubborn defensive solidity that was almost always present. Neymar was at the heart of everything that was good about Brazil's second-half attack.
The most impressive and revealing thing about how this story unfolds, is how much they worked as an intermingled unit, moments of individualism increasingly absent. .
The decisive moment of the game was his. probably the most delicate too. While Mexico struggled to start the second half when it started the first half, Brazil lost ground. Neymar cut from the left as it is his trademark.
But he avoids what usually comes after – an individual effort, sometimes selfish on purpose – for something much more welcoming. With the most skillful kick of his heel, he completely changed the point of the attack.
A flipped rear wheel gave Willian an opening and, after 51 minutes of play, Chelsea's midfielder headed for the ball and made the most of it. He worked even more space and fed a deadly bullet through the jaws of the goal that Guillermo Ochoa had strained with defiance. Gabriel Jesus, who needed a goal, was missing one. Never mind, just behind him, Neymar was slipping. Brazil had a lead that they never risked slipping
A gripping contest was getting closer to harshness and Mexico was becoming, well, stupid. They started to accumulate null and useless fouls, much against Neymar, the foulest player in the tournament. At first, he showed an impressive restraint. Miguel Layun tried to drag him brutally after shooting him and Neymar did not react as he would have done in the second match of his country here, a mortifying 90 minutes of histrionics and harassing the referee against Costa Rica. Instead, he continued with things as he had done the last time against Serbia, focusing on the task at hand and the collective. He was online to earn all the compliments.
The new Neymar? Not so fast.
In the 71st minute, he again mixed with Layun and carried the ball above the waterline almost halfway between the Brazilian bench and the fourth official
. He pushed the tip of his toe on Neymar's right ankle. Not even the first cousin of a stamp, it was a foot movement that had more in common with a man spilling an unwelcome dandelion.
Neymar rolled and rolled across the turf like a possessed soul. Because, in a way, it is. Possessed with something that he can not quite shake that propels him to do all the situations all around him. An infernal god complex
Great footballer,
Even better actor. #Neymar #neymarroll #BRAMEX # FifaWorldCup2018 #FIFAWorldCup # FIFA18 [19659026] #BRAxMEX pic.twitter.com/Qymvkv79Ab
– மகிழமகிழச்சசசி் ?????? (@SatuPaian) July 3, 2018
After intensive treatment, he was straight and sprinted in seconds. Of course that was it. He then allowed the Brazilian Roberto Firmino to take second place at the end of the second period
. However, even if these antics are expensive for Neymar, they can also be expensive for his team. Layun could legitimately have been booked on the incident, but the officials can no longer be prey to the crying wolf boy.
"It's a shame for football and we lost a lot of time because of a single player" Juan Carlos Osorio without ever naming Neymar
"My players are getting more and more tired this is a very negative image for the world of football and for the children who are watching this game.This should be a strong sport.It is a masculine sport.There should not be so much "
Neymar was then featured with Osorio's comments at Brazil's post-match press conference, but Titus stepped in before he could respond
. terms on the critics who come to him.
"I think it's more an attempt to undermine me than anything else, I do not care about critics, not even praise," said the matchwinner.
"I have to play I have to help my teammates and that's what I have to do. Nothing else. "
If only.
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