Though it would be harsh to say, I think many Brazilian players may feel they were undermined as almost all of the Brazilian media made Neymar the focus of attention and headlines in first pages after the hosts’ 3-1 win over Croatia in the opening game of Fifa World Cup 2014 on Thursday.
All the newspapers published Neymar’s different pose of his celebrations after scoring a goal, all the channels were showing Neymar’s brace and his post match presser all through the day which can easily trigger the feeling that Neymar played alone and there were no other Brazilians in the field. In fact, Neymar is the ultimate poster boy and his stardom in Brazil seems not only untouchable but also unassailable.
Neymar is everywhere which also gives him a demigod status. He is in the billboards promoting different products, in the electronic media for a number of companies and no other Brazil player has as many endorsement deals as Neymar has. May be the football-crazy Brazilian media dedicated the win to Neymar as Brazil had to stage a comeback and it was initiated by none other than Neymar.
Neymar looked very jovial before the match and was hugging and shaking hands with everyone in the field. He ran to Kaka, the Brazilian star who came to the field to inspire the players and gave a long hug. Neymar was in the perfect mental shape ahead of the crucial tie and he did not disappoint the fans whose raucous support reached the highest level of their vocal chord when his name was announced during the team declaration.
Neymar, however, admitted that it’s the teamwork and not the individual effort and was happy to have scored a brace on the day. “I’m very happy, really happy,” said Neymar. “This is more than I even dreamed of and it’s vital to start a tournament like this with a win. I am happy with the two goals, but the whole team deserves a pat on the back because we kept cool and came from behind,” said the star.
“We’re very strong individually and when we play as a unit, we’re very difficult to beat. It’s not down to just one, two or three players; it’s the team as a whole that works,” concluded Neymar.
Even though the whole of Brazil was shouting “Neymar, Neymar” after the game, former Argentine great Diego Maradona criticized the Brazil team in television show saying this Brazilian side had too many defects and they were too dependent on Neymar.
“Brazil played well but had many problems in the side. They are very dependent on Neymar. It’s not an unbeatable team,” Maradona said in a program on Tele Sur.
Despite being just 22 years old, Neymar’s brace took him into ninth position in Brazil’s all-time goal-scoring charts. Neymar has now scored 33 goals for Brazil and ahead of him are Pelé (77), Ronaldo (62), Romário (55), Zico (52), Bebeto (39) and Rivaldo (34). He has surpassed Ronaldo by becoming the youngest player to reach 50 appearances for Brazil. Aged 22 years, he is the youngest player to find the net twice in a World Cup game since Valeriy Porkujan of the USSR in 1966. That brace against Croatia also saw him become the ninth player to score a brace in the opening game of the World Cup. He is the seventh player to score twice in Brazil’s first game in a World Cup and the first since 1990. His second goal was only the third penalty to be scored in the opening match of a World Cup Finals. He is the second Barça player to score in the opening match. Rafa Márquez was the first, for Mexico in 2010.