In the end there were no dribbles or swagger. Just a man covering his face with Brazil’s shirt so the world wouldn’t see him cry.
He didn’t make it. We all saw it. And with him, an entire country cried.
This is how Neymar said goodbye to the World Cups: with tears that were not just for this match. They were for all of them. For the broken vertebra in 2014, when a knee to the back took him out of his home World Cup. For the tears in Qatar. For the shattered knee that kept him for an entire year in the solitude of recovery. For arriving at this tournament patched up, amid criticism, coming off the bench to scrape together minutes of dignity.
He still had the strength for one last act: a penalty buried in stoppage time, when nothing could be fixed anymore. The final goal of his World Cup story. No one celebrated it. Least of all him: he knew what it meant.
He leaves without the Cup he chased his whole life. But let today’s tears not erase the full picture: we are saying goodbye to the top scorer in Brazil’s history, the man who surpassed PelĂ©’s record. The boy from Mogi das Cruzes who made football a game again.
Some idols say goodbye by lifting trophies. Others have to say goodbye like this: face covered, the crest pressed against their tears. As if even in crying he wanted to wrap himself in Brazil.
Obrigado for everything, Ney. Football was more fun with you.