After fourteen weeks of a fractured metatarsal and sprained ankle (while playing for Paris St Germain in a French league match against Olympique de Marseille), Neymar, the world’s most expensive football player, was back with a bang at Anfield. He scored a sensational goal on his return for the friendlies which saw Brazil pass Croatia in a comfortable 2-0 win.
Neymar replaced Fernandinho at halftime and took his customary place on the left wing. He looked a step slow in the opening exchanges of the second half, but registered Brazil’s first shot on target around 13 minutes into the second half of the match. It was a curler from the left of the penalty box that did not trouble Croatia’s goalkeeper. Neymar grew into the game, though often coming deep to get on the ball and spark attacks, he seemed more and more comfortable with each passing minute.
Finally, it took him just 23 minutes to prove his importance for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018, when he scored a goal. He picked up the ball from the left wing, drove past a Croatian defender, danced inside and smashed a right-footed shot into the goal, off the crossbar. He punctuated his ascendance with the goal, which was vintage Neymar.
Ecstatic, he ran over to the bench to celebrate, his emotions very apparent. Manager of the Brazilian national team, Tite, also celebrated with fist pumps. The sublime strike has left Neymar on an astonishing 54 goal record, with Pele and Ronaldo, as the only ones ahead of him in the book of records. If he reaches his peak, he could make this his tournament. He has a history with the World Cup, having been taken off on a stretcher in the quarter-final success over Colombia four years ago, but now he seems primed to banish those memories and strike afresh.
Everybody knows what it means to have Neymar back. Brazil had been uninspiring in the first half, but with him coming in, the attacks came back to life. Confidence for the team has soared ahead of the World Cup!