On Wednesday night, Neymar didn’t exactly have a fantastic comeback to club football.
The Brazilian star may have anticipated that joining Paris Saint-Germain for the remainder of the 2022–23 season would help him put his recent agony of a shocking World Cup elimination against Croatia behind him.
Even while that may ultimately turn out to be the case, Neymar’s first game back with the French champions, against Strasbourg, was a nightmare.
In a Ligue 1 match when Kylian Mbappe returned to action following his own World Cup heartbreak, PSG and the score remained tied at 1-1 going into the last 30 minutes.
Marquinhos, a fellow countryman of Neymar, had given PSG the early advantage at Parc des Princes, but he later scored again by putting the ball into his own net.
Neymar was dismissed against Strasbourg, why?
And at that point, things only got worse for the Parisians as Neymar received his second booking for simulation, giving him two yellow cards in the span of a few minutes.
Neymar’s attempts to get a penalty kick for Christophe Galtier’s team resulted in his taking an early shower, making it one of the season’s most embarrassing red cards.
The world’s most expensive player ever fell when being pressured in the box by Alexander Djiku of Strasbourg, as swiftly revealed by replays.
It’s fair to say that Neymar already has a reputation for collapsing quickly, with supporters frequently calling him out for making a meal out of routine challenges.
As a result of Neymar’s skillful dribbling and propensity for tricks, he is one of the most fouled players in all of football, therefore the situation is a little more complicated than that in reality.
While it is true that Neymar is stronger than he is frequently depicted to be, it was incidents like the simulation that led to his dismissal against Strasbourg that finally damaged his reputation.
Whether you like Neymar or not, the reality remains that he is seldom far from controversy.
