Having won their first group game against a COVID-stricken Venezuela, Brazil prepared to face Peru in Rio de Janeiro in a match that acted as a repeat of the 2019 Copa final. While Neymar is one of the most effective attacking players of his generation, scoring goals and acting as talisman for club and country, his legacy seems destined to be as the prime subject of one of those YouTube compilation videos where assorted pieces of skill are played out to a soundtrack of heavy German techno.Īs Brazil reluctantly hosts the Copa America, Neymar appears determined to contribute yet more source material for his legions of fans. Yes, he plays his club football for Qatari-backed PSG and has the sort of personality that makes your dad’s face redden with helpless exasperation.īut the 29-year-old is also never afraid to showcase the kind of skills that instantly brings cult video game FIFA Street to mind. Neymar represents both sides of the coin. While the standard of play in elite competitions has never been higher, it can sometimes feel like we’ve lost some of the unpredictability that makes the sport so alluring. From wealthy western European nations creating battery farms of young footballers, the academy system that creates technically perfect automatons, advances in personalised nutrition and exercise programmes to tactical systems that favour the collective over the individual. There’s an argument that football has become more methodical over the past few decades.
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