His tattoos sit on the surface, superficial representations of the inner thoughts of a man praised and vilified in near equal measure.
For the outside world, the tattoos are the only insight into the mind of someone who has reached the pinnacle of his craft by the age of 26.
For the world of “Inked,” they are so much more.
When 18-year-old phenom Timothy Weah takes the pitch on Friday for the USMNT’s headline friendly against Brazil at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, it’s likely that he’ll see three of his Paris Saint-Germain club teammates opposing him. With 90 caps to his name, Neymar is the most experienced of Brazil’s PSG bunch, but Thiago Silva (who’ll captain the side) isn’t far behind on 76, and defender Marquinhos has already represented the Seleção 27 times at the tender age of 24.
PSG defeated Nimes 4-2 in an action-packed Ligue 1 encounter Saturday that saw Neymar open the scoring and celebrate in front of a sign at Stade des Costières that called him a crybaby. The Brazilian, who’ll be representing the Seleção in friendlies on U.S. soil next week, was substituted off in the 91st minute having taken his total to four goals in four league games following the World Cup.
Admittedly, we’re getting tired of all these Kylian Mbappé goals. But this Mbappe goal vs Nimes was something special.
After scoring three goals in his first two appearances with Paris Saint-Germain this season, it wasn’t really a surprise to see the 19-year-old Frenchman score again on Saturday. What was surprising was the immense quality with which the goal was taken.
And his red card soon after.
The Champions League group stage draw on Thursday was excruciatingly boring. The matches it presented to us won’t be — at least not in Group C.
The 2018-19 Champions League group stages feature some tasty matchups with a couple of thrilling groups and one shockingly easy group.
Here are the groups:
Neymar unveiled a fresh new celebration on Saturday. Scoring the third goal for PSG against Angers in a 3-1 win, he showed off some writing on an unusually large wristband.
Neymar is typically sporting a band of tape around his right wrist, but today his Nike-emblazoned band was more reminiscent of a college quarterback with a list of plays written on it. But it wasn’t to remember any set-piece plays, but to honor a dear family member.
Kylian Mbappé is unplayable right now.
After helping France win the World Cup over the summer, he scored two goals in his first match back with PSG last week. He added another goal and an assist on Saturday against Angers, helping the defending champion to a 3-1 victory.
Tim Weah, the 18-year-old American, started at center forward alongside Neymar for PSG vs Guingamp on Saturday, a reward for scoring his first Ligue 1 goal a week earlier against Caen.
But with PSG shockingly trailing at halftime — and it could’ve been worse — Weah was replaced by World Cup star Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman, a relative elder at 19, saved the day with two late goals for a 3-1 win.
At the tender age of 19, any sort of highlight involving Paris Saint-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe is technically still from his “youth.” This is especially true since he started playing for Monaco’s senior side at the age of 16 and dominated the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship at the age of 17. Now he’s a World Cup winner at 19.
Just eight days after scoring his first competitive goal for Paris Saint-Germain against Monaco in the Trophée des Champions, 18-year-old American phenom Timothy Weah has scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the club. PSG opened the 2018-19 league season against Caen and goals from Neymar and Adrien Rabiot had the home side cruising at the half.