Brazil’s superstar is one of a mere two or three people on the planet who could possibly understand what it’s like to be him. He looked, said former Liverpool star Craig Johnston, a “broken man”.
His dive, which conned the referee Bjorn Kuipers into awarding a penalty then rightly rescinded by the VAR, came about through his sheer desperation to make something happen. He had a shot fizz past the post, and was denied by Keylor Navas on several occasions as Brazil rained in 24 shots.
Neymar, of course, exited the previous tournament on a desperate low. Injured against Colombia, his teammates wept for him before they were destroyed 7-1 by Germany. Love him or loathe him, there is no doubt Neymar is willing to take responsibility, to lead.
“That just goes to show the pressure individuals like Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo are under when they go into a tournament like this,” former Socceroo John Aloisi said. “They’re carrying virtually the whole nation on their shoulders and for Neymar to finally come up with the goods … he was having a frustrating game, nothing was going right for him, to end up scoring in the last minute…”
Mark Schwarzer said the element of pressure, and the load carried by the game’s biggest names, was a defining theme of the World Cup so far. “It’s great he’s able to make a difference,” Schwarzer said. “He was the centre of most of their attacks, the controversy in the second half, and it was nice to see him score the goal and that pressure being relived there.
“it’s incredible this tournament. That’s probably been the stand out thing so far that pressure – we talk about it every night and we saw him releasing that.” Aloisi, who endured the most pressurised moment in Australian football when his penalty took the Socceroos into the 2006 tournament, said social media was piling more stress on the top players.
“There’s always been pressure,” said Aloisi. “They’ve always known that their country is wanting them to lead them to victory but now most of them are on social media … they can see, when they don’t do well, the amount of abuse they’re copping, and it must get to them.
“You don’t think about it – you think they’re just players, but they are human beings.” The pressure came pouring off Neymar in a flood of tears. For Messi, there was no such release. Even before the game the stress was obvious. As the anthems played, Messi looked like a man off to the gallows, his hand rubbing and rubbing his deeply furrowed brow.
Johnston was shocked by the vision of Messi, mind obviously elsewhere. “That’s very sad, during the national anthem,” Johnston said. “That’s a cry for help. That’s a broken man.”
Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Cesc Fabregas, a pundit for the BBC during the tournament, called Argentina a “broken team” and questioned their spirit, saying they were “playing against each other, not for each other”.
Pablo Zabaleta – who played in the 2014 World Cup final for Argentina – added: “I cannot remember a performance like that. The team looks so poor. They were predictable and did not create anything.” There is a belief that Messi is not getting the on-field support he needs, and the weight is too much for one man, even one as phenomenal at football as him.
That is less an issue for Neymar. “The difference between Brazil and Argentina,” said Aloisi, is “Messi when he was quiet had no one else to stand up. Neymar, when he was quiet, Coutinho stood up.”
Brazil coach Tite said: “[Neymar’s] individuality shows up if the whole group is playing well.
“You can’t put all the responsibility on one player. He was out three and a half months and he played the full match. He’s a human being. He needs some time to resume his high standard but before he does that there is a team which has to be strong and not dependent on him.”