When Neymar debuted for the Brazilian national team at the age of 18 after the 2010 World Cup, Selecao was eager to find a new symbol capable of matching Lionel Messi. Since then, the Brazilian striker seems to always have to live in the shadow of the Argentine superstar - a pressure that is both unrealistic and shapes his entire career.
Even Carlo Ancelotti's call-up of Neymar to the list for the upcoming World Cup evokes the feeling of a "final dance" similar to Messi at Qatar 2022. But besides age and emotional factors, there are almost no similarities between the two cases.
Messi entered the 2022 World Cup with stable form and is still the center of Argentina's play. Meanwhile, Neymar has only started 27 club-level matches in the past 3 years and played less than 700 minutes in the domestic league this season before suffering a calf injury.
From the beginning, Brazil tried to turn Neymar into their own "Messi", and that unintentionally created a toxic dependence. Neymar became the role model that everyone wanted him to become, instead of being himself.
That is the biggest paradox in the career of the striker born in 1992. This is a player who possesses a rare innate talent but has never been truly recognized as his true self.
After the defeat to Belgium in the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals, the image of Neymar quietly bowing his head next to the national team bus in Kazan most clearly reflects the weight he had to bear. At that time he was only 26 years old, but it seemed that the best opportunity to win the World Cup had passed.
Brazil failed not entirely because of Neymar, but his presence created a tactical imbalance that Roberto Martinez exploited thoroughly. Neymar's arrangement forced Brazil to adjust the midfield structure and that gap became a fatal weakness against Belgium.
From Copa America 2011, Neymar has become the top target of opposing defenders. After fierce clashes with Venezuela and then Paraguay, world football gradually realized that he does not like being strongly pressed.
Defenders began to play tougher, while Neymar reacted by avoiding collisions, exaggerating fouls and frequently falling to the ground. This made his image controversial throughout much of the 2010s.
That conflict peaked at the 2014 World Cup, when Neymar was hit in the back with a knee by Juan Camilo Zuniga in the quarter-final match against Colombia, leading to a broken vertebra.
Brazil has placed too much expectation on Neymar, turning him into a savior that he could never really become.
David Luiz raising Neymar's shirt before the semi-final match against Germany only pushed emotions to the extreme, before Brazil collapsed with a historic 1-7 defeat. That was probably the moment Brazilian football lost its greatest sobriety in modern times.
While his career in the national team is always full of pressure and chaos, Neymar has reached the club's peak with Barcelona.
In the 2014-2015 season, he, along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, created one of the greatest attacks in football history, helping Barca win the treble under Luis Enrique.
Two years later, Neymar continued to shine in the legendary comeback against PSG, before the French team spent a record amount of money to take him away from Camp Nou. That was seen as an effort for Neymar to escape Messi's shadow and aim for the Ballon d'Or. But in the end, he became part of PSG and Qatar's giant sports project rather than a true central figure.
Even when Messi joined PSG later, Neymar still could not recreate the glory of Barcelona. The 2022 World Cup seemed to bring a fateful moment for Neymar after a super product against Croatia in the quarter-finals, but Brazil once again succumbed.
Throughout his career, Neymar has always pursued the greatness that people expect from him. But perhaps, those expectations have never been realistic.
Ancelotti's continued call-up of Neymar at this time may be a gamble, or evidence of the special pressure existing in the Brazilian national team, where even the most successful coach in Champions League history can hardly ignore.
