Sometimes it must really suck to be Neymar. After he lost his head during the Brazil vs Uruguay World Cup Qualifier, he apparently went out on the town and partied. Of course, being the celebrity that he is, people found out. The Brazilian media skewered him and now we have another Ronaldo Birthday party situation on our hands.
To be fair to the Brazilian media, Neymar and Brazil did squander a 2-0 lead that for a time looked fairly secure.
Uruguay fought back through Edinson Cavani:
And Neymar’s Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez:
In the second half, Uruguay shut it down a little bit in hopes of preserving the tie it eventually earned, which away to Brazil is a pretty good result considering it fortified 2nd place in their qualifying group.
Brazil was frustrated, however. They could not replicate their flowing attack from the first half against Uruguay’s staunch defense, and Neymar, being the attacker that he is, did not take particularly kind to this.
Neymar was incredible in first half, but Uruguay defenders' challenges got to him in the second and he lost his head.. As always. No excuse.
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStats2) March 26, 2016
Neymar received a yellow card in the second half that was a product of his frustrations, and a continuation of a theme of getting booked when playing for Brazil. Per Bleacher Report, Neymar has received 5 yellow cards in the 10 games he has played under current head coach Dunga.
Neymar failed to save face at the end of the game when he got into it with Uruguayan defender Jorge Fucile, who antagonized him during the second half and, it must be said, came out on top for it:
Neymar’s yellow card meant that he was suspended for Brazil’s next game against Paraguay, a game that Brazil almost lost were it not for two goals in the last ten minutes.
Brazilian newspaper Globoesporte was apparently incensed by Neymar when “he was seen ‘out on the town’ following the game.”
Look, I get it. Everyone wants their professional athletes to take things seriously, especially results of important qualifiers, but can we just lay off Neymar for a second? He was already suspended, get angry at him for that, but don’t make a fuss out of him going out in his home country when he’s got no reason not to.
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