As their star player fell to the ground, screaming in pain with his arm bent behind his back, an entire nation gasped and feared the worst.
Neymar was Brazil’s talisman, the one who would lead the national team to glory on home soil in the 2014 World Cup but, after a knee to the back as he challenged for the ball with Colombian Juan Zuniga, the vertebrae of the The then 22-year-old player was broke and he was out of the tournament.
Brazil won the game to advance to the semi-finals, but there they fell to a humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany. Four years ago, they came out in the quarter-finals against Belgium.
Although Neymar is now 30, he is in one of the best forms of his career and there is real hope that this will be his and Brazil’s year.
Unfinished
Ever since Neymar burst onto the scene as an explosive youngster for Santos in 2009, he was expected to become a big star for club and country.
The striker can certainly be proud of his achievements so far. He is the most expensive footballer in history. He scored 105 goals in 186 games for Barcelona and netted 115 times in 163 appearances for Paris St-Germain. And he is Brazil’s second top scorer with 75 goals, behind only Pelé.
However, he hasn’t been able to show his best at a World Cup yet. While injury sorely robbed him of a potential home fairy tale in 2014, he was part of a Brazilian side that underperformed in Russia four years later, despite wins against Costa Rica and Mexico.
Neymar has been part of the national team for 12 years, but his only major successes with his country are the 2013 Confederations Cup and Olympic gold at Rio 2016. He missed the 2019 Copa America, won by Brazil, because of an injury.
The years of waiting and limited major success seemed to take their toll, as he suggested last year that the 2022 World Cup would be his last.
“I see him as my last because I don’t know if I have the strength of mind to deal with football anymore,” he said in the DAZN documentary Neymar Jr And The Line Of Kings.
“I will do everything to present myself well, do everything to win with my country, to achieve my biggest dream since I was little. And I hope I can do it.”
Hit the form at the right time
Neymar’s stats are all the more impressive considering he’s had long spells in his career due to injury.
As of January this year, he had missed nearly 100 games for PSG since joining in 2017, as a seemingly frosty relationship with team-mate Kylian Mbappe meant the French side looked set to sever ties with Neymar this summer and he was linked with moves elsewhere.
“We know there was tension between the two,” Get French Football News editor Raphael Jucobin told BBC Sport.
“It looks like Neymar took it personally and he wanted to show this season he’s worthy of a place at PSG, and he’s the player they bought for £200m.
“He’s really showing it this season. It’s been his best season so far, not only in terms of goals but also in attitude.”
Neymar previously frustrated the PSG hierarchy by once being late for the start of pre-season, but this summer ended his vacation early to start preparations for the new campaign.
The result of that level of focus and dedication has been 11 goals and nine assists in 14 Ligue 1 appearances.
“There’s more maturity in him, but it’s something more than that. He has something to prove,” added Jucobin.
“Tactically speaking too, the coach has found a very good formation to get the best out of him.”
Brazil boss Tite is certainly pleased with the form Neymar has arrived at the World Cup in, saying: “He’s flying. It’s the result of all the preparation he put in.”
Pelé’s record in Neymar’s sights
As well as hoping to lead Brazil to a record sixth World Cup title, Neymar is also on the cusp of history.
He needs just three goals to surpass Pele, who is Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 77 goals in Fifa.
It’s a target Neymar is clearly determined to beat, telling French football program Telefoot last month: “I hope to get past him. I’m going to talk to my teammates about it and tell them to help me score so that I can finally get there.”
What may also help Neymar is that, unlike 2014 and 2018, a nation’s hopes do not rest almost entirely on his shoulders.
Brazil have focused on attack for the World Cup in Qatar, with nine forwards named in their squad.
“Brazil doesn’t depend on Neymar, especially this year because there are several players like Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta,” said Cafu, the captain of their last World Cup victory in 2002.
“These players are also capable of winning the cup for Brazil, and this year the team is very different. Four years ago everything was Neymar.”
Stripped of the weight of expectation, this could be the year Neymar delivers for Brazil at a World Cup.
