It wouldn’t be a week of sports news without some drama to follow the news. The former Brazilian coach Mario Zagallo has stated that he firmly believes Neymar isn’t nearly as mature as he should be. However, Neymar is a great player and has an outstanding form for the country and the club. So, what do these comments mean and why does the former coach even care? What prompted him to fire some shots at Neymar in the first place and what’s the reaction to his comments?
In only 70 short appearances, Neymar has scored a whopping 46 goals for the Brazilian team. This season Neymar is playing for Barcelona and has already scored 27 goals. It’s a pretty impressive track record for a young 24 year old player who doesn’t have as much experience as some of the other hard hitting goal scorers.
Zagallo’s credentials aren’t to be scoffed at either. Zagallo helped get Brazil to the finals in 1998 and was even a World Cup winner for Brazil in both 1958 and 1962. He won another one in 1970 but this time as a coach rather than a player on the field. The reason or the particular thing that prompted Zagallo’s seemingly unnecessary comments about Neymar is that Zagallo feels Neymar has a lack of disciplinary action taken against him and taking his disciplinary record into account.
This criticism comes after the 2-2 draw with Uruguay last Friday, which ultimately forced him out of the qualifier match against Paraguay on Tuesday. They’re currently looking at his goals for the year and noticing that he has had more bookings than goals since the very start of last year. Neymar had also been previously banned at Copa America for four games last summer. This was the result of receiving two different yellow cards in two matches straight.