Martin O’Neill is fed up with Neymar’s antics. To be fair, who isn’t?
Neymar is one of the great footballing talents in the world, but Martin O’Neill is right, what he did against Mexico was ‘pathetic’.
During the second half of Brazil’s 2-0 win in the round of 16, he was involved in an incident with Miguel Layun. The defender trod on his ankle trying to retrieve the ball. As one has come to expect from Neymar, his reaction was more over the top than a peak Nicolas Cage performance.
He wailed, he screamed, he made an absolute show of himself. Yet again, following another good Brazil victory in the World Cup, it’s Neymar’s histrionics that is dominating the post-match discussion.
#BRA get the job done! 💪
Second-half goals from @neymarjr and Roberto Firmino mean that @CBF_Futebol are through to the quarter-finals! #BRAMEX pic.twitter.com/LHBtM2Ajbw
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 2, 2018
O’Neill speaks out
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill was in the ITV studio for the game and he did not like what he saw from Neymar. As he sees it, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is as good at acting as he is at the beautiful game.
“His reaction? Oh, it was pathetic. It was absolutely pathetic, honestly.”
“It’s a red card nowadays because they’ve spotted somebody standing on his foot. I mean, the pain threshold of Neymar is just incredibly low, I must admit. I wouldn’t like to see him coming out of the doctor’s surgery after getting a flu injection.”
“He’s a top quality player and he’s a top quality actor. Slaven just mentioned there that he hasn’t really hit it yet. Part of that, I think, is actually to do with all this play-acting. He’s been down dozens and dozens of times. He gets up again. He’s completed four games – he hasn’t done too badly out of it.”
"This is a deliberate act and therefore it is a clear red card"@clattenburg1975 discusses the altercation between Layun and Neymar
Watch LIVE on @ITV pic.twitter.com/VxPT6eSOgz
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2018
