International Football
Qatar 2022: Neymar ready to carry the weight of a nation on his shoulders
Fuelled by past disappointments at the World Cup, Neymar has been preparing for a long time to make sure he is in peak condition to lead Brazil into the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Now aged 30, the world’s most expensive player has often struggled to live up to expectations and been hampered by injuries since joining Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for a record €222 million (S$311.6 million).
It is not so long ago that Neymar let slip that Qatar could be his last World Cup as he struggled with the demands of playing football at the highest level.
But his form and his attitude in the first three months of this season bode well going into Brazil’s bid to win a record sixth World Cup crown.
After reporting for pre-season training a week earlier than expected, Neymar hit the ground running when the French campaign kicked off and he has scored 15 goals in 19 games so far for PSG, while also providing a hatful of assists for the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
“He is flying. It is the fruit of all the preparation he has put in,” said national team coach Tite.
Close-season talk that PSG were keen to cut their losses and sell Neymar has faded, and he heads to Qatar needing just two goals to draw level with Pele on 77 as Brazil’s all-time top goal-scorer.
Eight of Neymar’s 75 goals for his country came during Brazil’s outstanding World Cup qualifying campaign, as they went unbeaten through 17 games to finish top of the single South American qualifying group.
He set up another eight goals and developed promising relationships with fellow attackers like Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta.
“With Neymar in good form, we have a great chance of winning the World Cup, because he is a player who really can make the difference,” Brazil great Cafu said
Neymar may be fuelled by the desire to finally win a Ballon d’Or, but above all he will be determined to banish the memory of his previous World Cups.
Brazil’s 2014 campaign ended in a disastrous 7-1 humiliation at home to Germany in the semi-finals.
Yet that only came after Neymar – carrying the weight of a nation on his shoulders – suffered a fractured bone in his back in a challenge by Juan Camilo Zuniga in their last-eight defeat of Colombia.
Four years later, Neymar scored in wins over Costa Rica and Mexico but Tite’s team underwhelmed as they went out in the quarter-finals to Belgium.
Neymar’s international disappointment also extended to the 2019 Copa America, which Brazil won without him as he recovered from an ankle ligament injury.
He was back as Brazil hosted the 2021 Copa, but could not prevent them losing the final to Argentina at the Maracana.
So far success with his country has been limited to the 2013 Confederations Cup and an Olympic gold at the Rio Games in 2016.
“I hope he is in inspired form so that Brazil have a greater chance of reaching the final,” Careca, who played for the Selecao at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, said.
Tite, meanwhile, included 39-year-old defender Daniel Alves but left out Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino in their 26-man World Cup squad which was announced on Monday.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli was one of nine forwards in a list dominated by 12 players from England’s Premier League.
The emergence of a new generation of attacking players like Martinelli, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Raphinha, Gabriel and Pedro resulted in Firmino, 31, failing to make the squad.
Brazil open their World Cup campaign against Serbia on Nov 24 and also face Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G. AFP, REUTERS
Brazil’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras).
Defenders: Bremer (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid) Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Danilo (Juventus), Dani Alves (UNAM Pumas), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Sevilla).
Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United).
Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Neymar Jr. (Paris St Germain), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid).
-Reuters
Neymar in action with Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus and Kamal Deen Sulemana in a friendly match in September 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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