{"id":5571,"date":"2026-06-26T00:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/?p=5571"},"modified":"2026-06-26T00:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:46:09","slug":"world-cup-2026-neymar-the-return-of-brazils-forgotten-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/?p=5571","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: Neymar &#8211; the return of Brazil&#8217;s forgotten hero"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">While the damage had already been done by the new hopes of Selecao, the old timer showed flashes of what could still be to come in the canary yellow of his nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He spent 20 minutes on the park, enjoying 24 touches &#8211; the man he replaced on 76 minutes managed just 14 more. He also managed a shot on target.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Really, it did not matter. The big screens once again locked on to him post match as he went over to the fans before embracing his young daughter at the front of the stand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A hero had returned for Brazil at a time where the want for greatness is craved ferociously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The five-time world champions have been without the game&#8217;s biggest prize since 2002. You have to go back to 2019 for their last tournament win when their ninth Copa America was bagged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Under Ancelotti, the Brazilians have been inconsistent. Wins have not been achieved against Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Japan, Tunisia, France and, most recently, Morocco. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Against a self-sabotaging Scotland, they had spells of swagger, with a ruthless streak cooked in for good measure. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Supporters drifted out of the Miami Stadium rejoicing, for the victory which has them topping Group C, and because their forgotten man played his part.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Pele is the best player of all time. No comparison,&#8221; one supporter told BBC Sport as he headed out the ground. &#8220;He won three World Cups for Brazil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Neymar will be among the best ones. He could be in the same level as Ronaldo or Ronaldinho if he wins the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I was in 2016 at Maracana, when he was the guy who scored the decider at the Olympics, and that was a title that Brazil never had before, but the World Cup is the title that we need, and we&#8217;re going for the six stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I think he&#8217;s able to open up the field and bring out jogo bonito (play beautifully), as they say. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;They have to respect who he is and who he once was, because if you don&#8217;t, he&#8217;ll make you pay, that&#8217;s for sure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the damage had already been done by the new hopes of Selecao, the old timer showed flashes of what&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}