How exactly has the country legend turned from the national hero to the object of abuse? Is this hate real? One of Brazil supporters, Reddit user BramStokerHarker, lists the main reasons behind the criticism.
"1. His smug attitude has been criticised ever since he was in Santos, but I always felt like he could back up how good he thinks is.
"2. We [Brazil] had a very weak squad in the mid 2010s, so people solely relied on his skill to solve everything for the national team. Not to mention Brazillians have a very high, nostalgic and unfair standard for "main players" like Ronaldo Nazario, Romario or fu**ing Pele.
"3. He never had the best physique and his speed and agility means a lot of players would foul him mercilessly in order to stop him, which happened yesterday [v Serbia]. So he's had an unfair legacy of constantly falling and doing nothing else.
"4. More recently Neymar supported that disgusting criminal Jair Bolsonaro [Brazil's former far-right president], including this last election, but a lot of other players did too so I wouldn't call that the sole reason. (Edit: as a fellow Brazillian pointed out, Neymar was indeed the most vocal Bolsonaro supporter amongst the players, not to mention he has the most reach out of anyone there).
"It's especially bad during the World Cup because there are lots of people who only follow football through memes and highlights, so they go with the usual route of 'Neymar falls too much and is a smug prick who's not as good as he thinks he is.'"
The fourth reason actually seems the dominant factor in all the recent criticism. There are many people who reminded Neymar of his support towards Bolsonaro after he got injured in the World Cup opener. So, lots of fans believe he is 'finished' not only as a player but as a person too.
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old is having a season to remember, scoring 15 goals and providing 12 assists in 21 matches for Paris Saint-Germain. He is also just 3 goals shy of breaking Pele's record for the most goals scored for the national team.
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