Neymar, full name Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior is a football player for Brazil’s national team.The man is an undoubtedly a talented athlete, popular with the people, and… as it turns out – a man who likes to fall over a lot.
The world’s most expensive footballer, Neymar, continues to be a divisive genius. He has come in for a lot of flak during the FIFA World Cup 2018 for his diving theatrics.
While Neymar would prefer to see his football being talked about during the FIFA World Cup, it has been the number of times the Brazilian forward has gone down to the ground in pain that has received much of attention.
Even if you’re not a fan of football it’s pretty common knowledge that players like to “flop”. It happens in a lot of sports but it’s probably most recognisable in football.
Flopping/diving is when a player tries to bamboozle the referee into thinking they’ve been fouled. Football’s full of it – there are even YouTube compilations dedicated to the World Cup’s Best Ever Flopping. Neymar, though beloved by much of the football world, is known to be quite the flopper.
This year’s World Cup has seen Neymar up to his antics more than usual resulting in quite a lot of criticism from competing nations and whatnot. During Brazil’s shock exit against Belgium, 1-2, Neymar feigned an injury only to be told by referee Milorad Mažić – probably not in these words – “mate, get up.”
Neymar has only scored once in Russia so far. In general, the PSG striker has failed to look 100% fit as he returns from injury.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored a vital goal and assisted another in Brazil’s World Cup victory over Mexico, yet all everyone seems to be talking about is his alleged play-acting.
While some have accused him of excessive theatrics, others have ridiculed him as a diving diva. His exaggerated reactions have also led to a Twitter trend — #NeymarRolls — which has become an internet sensation, generating plenty of GIFs and memes.
It’s interesting to note how Neymar is thought on social media :
Jaja pic.twitter.com/3LRBMFe9DD
— Khaleesita de Rivotril (@KhaleesitaBunny) June 29, 2018
KFC released ad inspired by Neymar! pic.twitter.com/yJQtrmczl9 #neymar #neymarroll #WorldCup2018
— Amit Ranjan (@amitranjan) July 5, 2018
Internet, I'm DONE 🤣🤣😂😅#neymardive #neymarroll #Neymar #neymarjr #football #dive #Brazil #Russia2018 #Russia2018WorldCup #WorldCup #WorldCupRussia2018 pic.twitter.com/ITuDB4mFpe
— JWriting (@JWriting_) June 29, 2018
Some of the memes have been quite funny, to be fair, and now a bunch of school kids in Switzerland have hopped aboard the banter bus with this amusing impersonation of the world’s most expensive footballer.
Kids in Switzerland playing Neymar @neymarjr @piersmorgan pic.twitter.com/m2YlXFlAVY
— Russian Market (@russian_market) July 4, 2018
A Switzerland radio station, Radio Television Suisse, tallied up the amount of time spent by Neymar on the ground after he was brought down by opposition players. Of the 360 minutes of football Brazil has played so far, Neymar has been down on the floor for close to 14 minutes!
During the match against Mexico, Neymar rolled around for nearly two minutes by clutching his leg after Miguel Layun ‘stepped’ on him. After Mexico crashed out in the Round-of-16 stage, its coach Juan Carlos Osorio blamed the referee for pandering to the forward’s theatrics.
*Fixed it* 😂😂😂#Neymar #neymarroll #WorldCup #BRA pic.twitter.com/Bpan54vQy2
— A R S L A ن♑🔥 (@Kya_Likhon) July 3, 2018
According to RTS Sports – a website which provides live data on various sports throughout the world – Neymar has been fouled a whopping 23 times at this World Cup already.
But perhaps accusations that the 26-year-old has been over-exaggerating his injuries aren’t entirely wide of the mark.
RTS Sports say Brazil’s number 10 has spent a grand total of 13 minutes and 50 seconds lying prone or rolling around on the turf in Russia this summer.
He’s already had a cameo in one of the Fast and the Furious movies, and perhaps a career in Hollywood awaits Neymar once he hangs up his boots.
