This May Be The End For Neymar

It was a hell of a ride.

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

On the 17th of October, Brazil were defeated 2-0 by Uruguay, with Darwin Núñez and Nicolás de la Cruz scoring for La Celeste. It was a terrible result for Brazil, who now sit third in CONMEBOL's World Cup qualifying, five points behind first place Argentina. But the scoreline may not even be the main concern for Brazil.

At the end of the first half, Brazil's all time record scorer Neymar Jr went down clutching his left knee after a tackle from de la Cruz. The next day, everyone's worst fear was confirmed. Neymar had torn his ACL and meniscus, and faces six to nine months on the sideline.

And when you consider Neymar's injury history, age, and the fact he's no longer playing in Europe, you can't help but feel this may be the end.

Above: Neymar Jr in pain after tearing his left ACL and meniscus against Uruguay.

Throughout his career, Neymar has always been a divisive player. From Santos, to Barcelona, to PSG and now Al-Hilal, the Brazilian always seemed to be a controversial figure. Some would say he had the potential to become the greatest to ever do it, others say he was a flashy showboater not worth the hype. Some say he ruined his career moving to PSG, and others believe we saw Neymar at his best in France.

However, what we can all agree on is that when Neymar was at his best, you couldn't keep your eyes off him. From watching grainy 480p Santos highlights back in the early 2010s on YouTube, to seeing him pull off rainbow flicks against Manchester City and Liverpool on European nights, whenever Neymar was playing, you'd watch.

My personal favorite Neymar skill was his rainbow flick in the 2018 World Cup against Costa Rica. Brazil had a tight 1-0 lead in the 94th minute, and Neymar was holding the ball up in the corner. You'd start to wander your eyes to your phone, thinking it was going to be another uneventful ending and all of a sudden the ball's halfway over Yeltsin Tejeda's head. Only Neymar would do that, and he proved it by scoring Brazil's second goal a few minutes later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkrHxJhtSR8

Above: Neymar's rainbow flick against Costa Rica, my personal favorite from a long list of Neymar skill moves.

However, as fun as Neymar could be to watch, he could also be equally frustrating. You'd think he was finally gonna win the World Cup with Brazil, or the Champions League with PSG and all of a sudden something went wrong. It's almost criminal he'll end his career with only one UCL and no World Cup's.

There is also, of course, the injuries. Neymar has been injured for 908 days over his career and has missed 181 games, a number that's only gonna get higher with this recent injury. When you count his new injury, Neymar will have spent over 1000 days of his career injured, which equates to almost three years.

Honestly, it's a miracle we even saw Neymar for as long as we did, especially after his injury against Colombia at the 2014 World Cup, which was inches away from leaving him paralyzed.

Above: Neymar breaks his vertebrae in the 2014 World Cup. The nightmare injury was 2cm away from leaving him paralyzed.

Neymar's constant injury history isn't surprising when you factor the amount of games he played early in his career. Hyped as a young prospect from day one, Santos wasted no time getting Neymar in their team. Neymar would ultimately play 225 times for Santos, despite leaving when he was only 21. That's hard to even wrap your head around.

His injury problems held off for the most part at Barcelona, as he played 186 times over four years for the Spanish giants. However, by the time Neymar got to PSG, it was clear playing over 400 games before age 25 was taking a toll on him. Neymar only averaged 28.8 games a season in France, a far cry from 45 games a season at Santos and 46.5 games a season at Barcelona.

Above: Neymar signed for PSG in 2017 for a world record €222 million - but his time in France was barred by constant injuries.

Truth be told, its more then fair to say Neymar didn't reach his insanely high potential. One Champions League, no World Cup and no Ballon d'Or is far from what many thought he would achieve. As mentioned earlier, some thought he could turn into the greatest player our sport had ever seen.

But Neymar left a legacy. Despite all the set backs, Neymar still won a UCL. He won La Liga twice and Ligue 1 five times. He was a part of what many believe to be the greatest front three of all time, MSN. Messi, Suarez and Neymar. That's him.

Sure, he never won the World Cup with Brazil, or even a Copa America. But he did win the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, both of which were home tournaments.

But what's most telling is that when you look up Brazil's all time leading goal scorer in men's football, you'll see Neymar, with 79 goals. Not Pele, or Ronaldo, or Romario. Neymar. And I've got a feeling he'll stay on top of that list for a long time.

Above: Neymar Jr after scoring his 78th goal for Brazil, breaking Pele's record for most goals ever scored for the Brazilian national team.

Unfortunately, with this recent injury, on top of the fact that Neymar is now 31 and playing in Saudi Arabia, I'm not sure we'll ever see him at his best again. It pains me to say it and I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure he ever plays for Brazil again.

So sadly, this could be it for Neymar. But what a ride it was.