Neymar has passed the great Pele as Brazil’s record goalscorer. He scored twice in the 5-1 win against Bolivia and now has 79 international goals to his name.
Neymar raised both arms in the air and his teammates applauded enthusiastically and respectfully after the historic goal: The 31-year-old Selecao superstar left no one behind in the 5-1 (1-0) win against Bolivia at the start of the World Cup qualification in Belem than Pele (77 goals) with his international goals number 78 and 79 behind him.
The three-time world champion Edson Arantes do Nascimento died on December 29, 2022 at the age of 82. For Neymar it was the first appearance for the record world champion after his spectacular transfer from Paris St. Germain to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. His double (61./90.+3) made the fans cheer.
Neymar himself seemed visibly touched when he beat Pele’s record with his first goal against Bolivia. Lost in thought, he placed his forehead on the ball and stayed like that for a brief moment – as if his thoughts were with Pele.
“I never thought I would break this record,” Neymar commented afterwards: “But I want to make it clear: I’m not better than Pele.”
It was always his dream to “write my own story, to immortalize my name in the history of Brazilian football and the national team. That’s what I did today.” However, Neymar is far from the record of his female counterpart Marta, who scored 115 goals in 171 international matches.
Neymar misses a penalty kick
The game against Bolivia was special not only because it was Neymar’s first international match since the quarter-final exit against Croatia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At that time, he had drawn level with Pele in the goal ranking in the 3-5 defeat on penalties.
In the Mangueirao Stadium in Belem, Neymar missed a penalty (17th), and after Rodrygo took the lead (24th), he then set up Raphinha (47th) to make it 2-0.
After Rodrygo’s second goal (53rd), Neymar’s big moment finally arrived after a good hour of play. He struck again in stoppage time. The completely inferior Bolivia scored a consolation goal through Victor Abrego (78th).
© getty
Brazil: “Pele would definitely have applauded today too”
The Pele Foundation also promptly congratulated him on the record (“Pele would certainly have applauded today too”). Rodrygo said: “Neymar is the biggest hero for me. I will always remember this day, it is something special.”
Neymar’s nomination was criticized at home. Interim national coach Fernando Diniz, who will hold the position until Carlo Ancelotti takes over next year and made his debut against Bolivia, nevertheless expressed his confidence in his star. It paid off. “Neymar wants to score goals, break records and wants to support the national team as much as he can,” said Diniz: “He is a great hero.”
Uruguay beats Chile
Meanwhile, Uruguay’s new guard achieved a safe victory against Chile’s aging Golden Generation in a 3-1 (2-0) win against Chile without veteran stars Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, who were not taken into account by Argentina’s coaching icon Marcelo Bielsa. Nicolas de la Cruz (38th/71st) and Real Madrid’s midfield star Federico Valverde (45th + 2) presented before former Bundesliga professional Arturo Vidal (74th) made cosmetic results.
South America’s top trio, who were victorious at the start of the Eliminatorias, now have to travel to the next matchday on Tuesday. Argentina, which defeated Ecuador 1-0 on Thursday thanks to a stroke of genius by Lionel Messi, in Bolivia and Uruguay in Ecuador are in action in thin mountain air, while Brazil meets the tireless ex-Bundesliga professional Paolo Guerrero in Peru.
2023-09-09 12:48:25
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