Once the connection between Neymar and Pele was vague and indirect at best. Now they are inextricably linked, with shared allegiances to Santos and Brazil, granted a glorious talent and given the most famous shirt in international football.
Go back in time and Neymar’s late grandfather Seu Ilzemar was a fan of Pele’s. A couple of decades ago, the common denominator came in an otherwise forgettable match when Neymar senior lined up against Pele junior – more commonly known as Edinho – and failed to defeat the goalkeeper with a series of shots. Then it became clear his son, initially known as Juninho and later to acquire worldwide fame as Neymar, possessed rather more ability.
Pele was Santos’ trump card in 2010 when they wanted to persuade Neymar to sign a new contract. He duly did, even if he traded in Brazil for Barcelona three years later. Now, once again, he follows in the greatest footballer’s footsteps. He is Brazil’s No 10, the focus of a nation’s hopes, in a World Cup.
It is not just a number. It is a status symbol and a burden. “What makes me worried a little bit is the pressure on him,” Pele told ESPN last month. Even he never had the pressure of winning a home World Cup and Pele added: “Everyone expects Neymar is going to win the World Cup for Brazil. This is very dangerous for him.”
Yet such are the expectations on Brazil’s No 10s. It is hard to exaggerate the significance of the shirt. With the exception of the comparatively undistinguished Paulo Silas, a strange choice for that accolade in Brazil’s underwhelming 1990 campaign, it has been worn in World Cups since 1958 by Pele himself (in four tournaments), Roberto Rivelino, Zico and Rivaldo twice and Rai, Ronaldinho and Kaka.
They are greats of the Brazilian game, footballers who epitomised the national fondness for flair, who illustrated that this is a game to be enjoyed, not endured. They were symbolic figures: when the captain Rai was dropped in 1994, it signified the adoption of a more pragmatic approach.
Neymar represents the antithesis of that. The spurious trickery in his game was highlighted by one of Pele’s teammates in the triumphant 1970 side. “Neymar is exceptionally theatrical,” Tostao told Luca Caioli in his biography of Neymar. “I never saw Pele overdo it with dribbling or waste time dribbling for the sake of it.”
It forms part of the criticism of Neymar. The showpony has not convinced everyone he has enough substance. The exaggerated falls alienate some. His debut campaign for Barcelona brought 15 goals, a respectable total but scarcely comparable with Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
There have been more shows of substance in his country’s colours. Neymar was the player of the Confederations Cup last summer, scoring in the final as Brazil won one major competition on home soil. His 48 caps have brought 31 goals, more than Rai, Rivaldo or Kaka scored for Brazil.
He has struck 22 times in the last two years. It earned him the symbolic No 10 shirt last year – manager Luiz Felipe Scolari demoted Oscar, the previous incumbent, to 11 – and helped ensure Brazil’s focus did not switch back to earlier generations. Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho have all been recalled in Scolari’s reign. None did enough to make the final cut.
Robinho was Neymar’s boyhood idol, another magic talent who, like Pele, played for Santos and Brazil. It brought predictable comparisons at an early age to the triple World Cup winner. Robinho never quite justified them. He had the skill but not the self-discipline to realise his potential.
At 30, he already feels yesterday’s man. At 22, Neymar is the youngest player to don the No 10 in a World Cup for Brazil since Pele himself. He does so in a team lacking a world-class striker or another creator of similar stature. The hopes of 200 million Brazilians rest on his young shoulders. Perhaps it requires a character as brash as his to relish that.
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