Watch: A brace for Neymar, a juicy curse word and a rather dubious goal celebration
The Santos star returned to the lineup for the first time since the World Cup, delivered a brace and settled a score with critics during his goal celebration by muttering an offensive phrase.
Neymar returned to the Santos lineup for the first time since the 2026 World Cup and scored a brace in the 2:2 home draw against Chapecoense in the 20th round of the Brazilian league. The 34-year-old star prevented his team from an embarrassing loss to the bottom-placed team and stole the show with the way he celebrated his first goal.
In the 35th minute, Neymar exchanged passes with Alvaro Bariel inside the box, shot elegantly into the left corner and gave Santos the lead. Immediately afterwards, he pretended to deal cards and play poker, and was even documented saying an offensive phrase during the celebration. In doing so, he provided a stinging response to the criticism he received during the week following his participation in a poker tournament in Sao Paulo.
Neymar missed Santos' 4:1 victory over Universidad Central in the Copa Sudamericana in the middle of the week, and in Brazil he was criticized after spending part of his day off at a poker tournament. He had already responded to the matter in a video he posted on social media and clarified that he trained in the morning and returned for another training session afterwards:
"I was on my day off. They keep talking anyway. Can one train, or will you continue to criticize that too? Mind your own business."
On the pitch, Santos lost the lead in the second half. When they were already on their way to an embarrassing home loss, Neymar took responsibility again. The referee awarded his team a penalty in the final minutes following a foul by Gustavo Caballero in the box, and the star sent the ball into the net to make it 2:2. Unlike the penalty he scored in Brazil's elimination from the World Cup, this time he hurried to take the ball out of the goal and restart the game, but Santos could not complete a comeback.
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Neymar, who had not played for Santos since the 3:0 loss to Coritiba on May 17, was involved in most of his team's dangerous situations, but also complained frequently to the referee. In the second half, he received a yellow card after pushing opposing players during a confrontation in the center of the field, and due to card accumulation, he will miss the next league match against Atletico Paranaense.
