All eyes in Munich and all hopes of the Parisians are (again) on Neymar.
Niklas Süle knows him very well from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. At that time, Neymar led Brazil to victory against Germany in the final. It was not an equalizer for the 7-1 with which Germany split Brazil in Belo Horizonte at the World Cup. But the Olympic gold was the one trophy that the golden boy could win for his country.
At the Olympics, Neymar was unstoppable – as was 2017 when Barcelona destroyed their future club PSG in the Champions League.
Still, is Neymar a genius or a dilettante? Paris paid 222 million euros for him and he has amassed almost as much in salaries and sponsorship money. At 29, however, he still looks like a boy who never grew up.
He should have followed in the footsteps of Messi, Maradona, even Pele. Unfortunately, the kid in Neymar may never grow up. The dismissal at the weekend was his third in the last 14 league games – and the eleventh of his career.
Whenever irritation hurts a talent so bad, I think of Joe Mercer. The former Manchester City and England coach once said: “Genius is great when it’s in good shape. But as soon as it subsides, it poisons its surroundings. “
Imagine what Neymar could achieve if he used his talent the way Robert Lewandowski has done for the last decade …
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