Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian Who Wants His Money Back
By
Mark L. Stevens
Apr 08, 2014 7:28 am ET
While the New York Red Bulls were celebrating last week with a successful penalty shoot-out victory against the Philadelphia Union at Yankee Stadium, another player was scoring goals for Brazil: Neymar Jr.
Neymar, Barcelona’s star striker and son of former Barcelona and Brazil forward Neymar dos Santos, was seen running down the left side of the field during the contest. He wasn’t doing anything to earn his second yellow card — he was sprinting down the field to kick the ball. But when he got his second yellow, the red card would follow.
In what was considered a shocking call, referee Ricardo Ferretti ruled Neymar’s cross went out of bounds instead of off the goal line, and he earned a red and was ejected.
After the match, Neymar was the center of attention as fans booed him. His father and agent were in attendance and he posed for news cameras with the fans.
But within a few days, Neymar’s reaction seemed as ambiguous and ambiguous as his father: He told reporters he had a “terrible feeling” and said he was “very angry” about the incident. Yet he left to visit a relative in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilians were angry that in the midst of all their grief, Neymar would visit his brother.
The whole saga became so bizarre that when it was published in the Brazilian media, the newspaper Pêro Vaz had to issue an apology. It quoted an article the newspaper had published that had omitted the fact that Neymar had been ejected from the game. In reality, there was plenty of evidence pointing to a foul, and the players and the club strongly backed Neymar after the ejection was made public.
When Neymar’s father, Neymar dos Santos, spoke on the phone with Brazilian Football Confederation president Jose Maria