Neymar’s return to Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti: World Cup memory owes faith to reason but the nation is still dreaming | Football news

“Neymar can be important to any team,” said Cafu, the last man to captain Brazil in a World Cup campaign. Sky Sports. “Seeing Neymar playing well, physically and technically, that would help the Brazilian team a lot.” It’s been a long time since someone saw it.

Talk about psychodrama. Neymar-mania continues to engulf Brazil and one wonders if the five-time world champions should be above it. But wanting the country’s top scorer in the men’s game to end up dancing is an obsession.

Neymar was not included in the youth team in 2010 despite many people’s interest. In 2014, at home, injury robbed him of time and proved a forerunner in a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in Belo Horizonte that still haunts Brazilian football.

Injuries also hampered his momentum ahead of the 2018 tournament and during its run in 2022. He recovered enough in Qatar to score a stunning extra-time goal in the quarter-final only for Croatia to equalize in the 117th minute and knock Brazil out on penalties.

All this long-standing means that Neymar’s love affair with the national team is full of emotions and is looking for its perfect ending. The small matter of form, fitness and 34 years of age must not be allowed to stand in his way.

Having not played for Brazil since 2023, Carlo Ancelotti presented a stunning memorial, which was welcomed by many. The veteran Italian coach has been saying that Neymar can only return if he has shown that he is ready – and he has already chosen him.

Eight appearances for Santos in Brazil’s top flight this year were not enough. Everyone has come home, it is not a direct proof that Neymar was eager to practice in a very difficult place. The offense is minor.

He is ranked among the top 10 players in the competition in terms of chances created per game but even Ancelotti knows the truth. Joao Pedro, he admits, is unlucky to miss out on the team despite failing to make the most of his chances with the Selecao.

What does Ancelotti think?

So, why did you do this? Some say it’s evidence of Ancelotti’s willingness to gamble on talent. For most of his coaching career, this is a man who is happy to bring together the most talented players available and put them back together to make it all work when the time comes.

Even now, it is still possible to argue that Neymar’s ceiling would be higher than others. Find a way to unlock his talent, even briefly, and it can make a difference. Cafu knows Ancelotti well during their time together at AC Milan and trusts his judgement.

“I think so,” he replied when asked if it was the right call. “Ancelotti is an experienced coach, a coach who knows how to establish a team for this type of competition. We hope that Ancelotti can bring new energy to the Brazilian team. He has conditions.”

But there is another reason why Ancelotti chose Neymar. You did the math. The buzz surrounding the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star would not end this summer, whether he was selected or not.

By including him, insisting that he will not have special rights, he puts the burden back on Neymar to prove his worth. The hope is that he can produce his cameos, inspire rather than hinder his teammates, reduce rather than increase pressure on others.

It’s a gamble because the questions will keep coming. You are in the team but are you ready to get on the field? If he is ready to enter the field, is he ready to start? So, Brazil hopes, it will go. All the way to the Meadowlands in July.

Echoes of Romario

History tells us that Brazil makes a habit of this kind of melodrama, with the home favorite taking center stage. Dunga resisted calls from the likes of Pele and Romario to replace Neymar in 2010 and paid the price with his career when it went sour.

In a sense, since Neymar has returned to Santos, the story has come full circle. But it is the one before him as well. Often, it was Romario himself who found himself the focus of this attention. The campaign for his inclusion had been a four-year debate in Brazil.

In 1994, Carlos Alberto Perreira was willing to leave Romario for the slightest thought. He contested his inclusion until the night of the final qualifying match. Brazil had to win to reach the World Cup. Muller’s injury led to a change of heart. Cafu remembers well.

“It was the last qualifying match against Uruguay at the Maracana and Romario showed his personality when he returned to the team. He said he would solve the problem for us and he did. We won 2-0. Romario scored two goals.”

The rest is history. Romario played in the World Cup and Perreira called it divine intervention. Four years later, in 1998, Mario Zagallo withdrew Romario from the team just before the tournament due to injury and things played out very differently.

Bebeto, who was leading the way with Ronaldo in Romario’s absence, struggled to fill his place as Brazil lost 3-0 to France in the final. Romario was soon back scoring goals for Flamengo and cartoonishly taunting Zagallo in the toilets of a Rio bar he owned.

Luis Felipe Scolari was even more fortunate when he snubbed an invitation for Romario to be included in his 2002 World Cup squad at the age of 36. It took winning a championship to silence the critics. Ancelotti has another answer with Neymar.

Will it work? Cafu, the only man to play in three consecutive finals, is hopeful. Ask him who will win the World Cup this summer and he smiles before answering emphatically. “Brazil, without a doubt. I have no doubts about the abilities of this team.”

But power and reality, especially where this 34-year-old version of Neymar is concerned, are two very different things.