So here we are in 2020. Is this the third time lucky? Is this Neymar’s moment of truth?
Three matches now stand between the “red pill” of European enlightenment or the “blue pill” of another footnote to the 28-year-old Wikipedia page.
“The biggest mistake in the history of sport”
Since planting their flag on the cobbled streets of Paris in June 2011, Qatari investors in PSG have made no secret of their ultimate goal: continental supremacy.
But if Europe is a combination lock, they searched endlessly for the locksmith with the elusive key. Seven times they tried and failed to crack the complex code – each failure more painful and bitter than the last.
“A specific timetable has been set and once you have exceeded this deadline each season, it seems that PSG are moving further and further away, so there is a weight of history hanging over it,” explains the expert. of French footballer Jonathan Johnson.
No longer Messi and Suarez’s backup singer, but now the main performer with a license to rock and become the best in the world.
For some, this was a game-changer; for Kallás, it remains “the biggest mistake in the history of sport”.
A love-hate relationship
His bond with fans in the City of Love has worked its way through the gamut of relationship statuses on Facebook: from “Married” to “Separated” to “It’s complicated.”
All with the allure of a former lover in Catalonia lingering in the background.
The love-hate dynamic around the polarizing figure was perhaps best summed up in the superstar’s first league appearance of the 2019-20 season.
Kallás paints a picture of the jury equally divided along generational lines in Brazil – young contenders who adore “the image, the smile, the tattoos” contrasted with the old guard who are “really concerned about him”.
The Cold War in Paris has since thawed, along with the realization that returning to the future is – for now – not an imminent prospect.
“He has shown on and off the pitch that he is committed to the project. […] He really has to take up the challenge of being a PSG player and achieving something, especially in the Champions League, in Paris,” Johnson said.
While a new page may have been turned on the ground, questions remain.
Will the boy become a man?
Neymar’s personal life has – at times – carried the hallmarks of an engrossing telenovela – filled with intrigue, and all backed by an entourage together.
Those who want him to succeed despair: will the boy one day become a man?
“In Brazil we have an expression that says he (Neymar) is an endless promise […] That he is “Menino Neymar” (“Baby Neymar”) – He’s not a boy […] It must be real […] He has to grow,” says Kallás, who has followed the Brazilian’s trials and tribulations on and off the pitch.
“When he’s on the pitch, he delivers […] I have never, ever heard a complaint from a coach or another player about his attitude in training, in the dressing room.”
And despite all the goals, assists and silverware to date, history and biology have treated the glitter-toed star with a cruel hand – robbing him of the opportunity to have a say in the business side. of European football’s elite club competition.
“That’s what makes the rest of this campaign so important and why it will be watched so closely,” Johnson said.
“It’s make or break”
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly – and perhaps favorably for PSG – changed the dynamic of this year’s tournament final.
Gone are the two-legged knockout affairs from the quarter-finals, replaced instead by one-legged penalty shootouts – all in the Lisbon bubble.
While progress in the competition — according to Johnson — “would really give the (Qatari) project the boost it needs after a few years of massive disappointment”, for Kallás this month could be the start of a career. defining two years for the individual at the heart of the story.
“We always say, ‘This is going to be the year. No — This is going to be the year. No — This is going to be the year’ […] He’s 28, he should be at the peak of his career but he’s not […] This is his last chance.”
The telenovela had its unforeseen twists, its moments of madness and its blows of brilliance. It is now up to its main protagonist to script its flagship ending.
