Neymar ‘looked a broken man’ after Santos were humiliated 6-0 as the fallout from his worst ever defeat continues to wreak havoc.
That is the verdict from South American football expert Tim Vickery, who believes the Brazilian has never ‘learnt how to lose’.
On Sunday, Neymar left the field in tears after his boyhood club shipped six unanswered goals at the hands of Vasco da Gama.
The defeat was the heaviest of the 33-year-old’s career, as well as being Santos‘ biggest losing margin in a Brazilian Serie A match.
The fallout from the humiliation continued on Tuesday after Neymar was confronted by angry fans at the club’s training ground.
Following the release of footage on social media, ESPN Brazil claim that the former Barcelona star was threatened with violence.
The report adds that Neymar responded to ultras at Santos’ CT Rei Pele training ground that the players are ‘trying to change things’.
Appearing on Tuesday’s Kelly and Jacobs, South American football expert Vickery detailed how the ugly scenes have unfolded.
He explained: “It was Santos at home, playing in São Paulo, not in Santos, where they got big support because of the Pelé years.
“Both teams hovering on the edge of the relegation zone, but Santos, big favourites for this game, Vasco without their centre forward, who scores most of their goals. Did it matter? Not a jot.
“Santos 0-6 Vasco de Gama, I don’t know what the score in the second set is going to be, but they fell apart.
“I mean, it was very good. Vasco tactically worked the extra man in midfield, [Philippe] Coutinho was always free, and they ripped them to pieces, and Neymar just looked a broken man at the end of the game.”
Neymar’s Santos struggles
Santos sit just two points above the relegation zone after 19 games of the season, with head coach Cleber Xavier getting the sack hours after the result.
Neymar, who rejoined Santos in January following an injury-hit spell with Saudi Arabia outfit Al Hilal, has scored six goals and notched up three assists in 19 appearances in all competitions.
Following Sunday’s 6-0 loss, the forward needed to be consoled on the pitch by a backroom staff member as he succumbed to tears.
“I don’t ever think he’s really learnt how to lose, and I think if you want to win, you’ve got to learn how to lose along the way,” Vickery added.
“Brazil call up their squad on Monday for the last two rounds of World Cup qualifiers. There’s been a lot of speculation that he might be in.
“He’s on a pre-list, but he hasn’t done very much, and he’s not going to have a chance to show what he can do before then because, yet again, he got another petulant yellow card for dissent, and he’s suspended for the only game they’ve got before then.
“So watch this space with interest.
“It could well be that Ancelotti wants to get him back into the group, not based on anything he’s done over the last few months when he’s playing his way back to fitness, but based on what potentially he might be able to do in the World Cup this time next year.
“But it’s looking like a long shot at the moment.”
Will Coutinho earn a Brazil recall?
Neymar’s former Brazil teammate Coutinho upstaged him on Sunday, scoring twice in his best showing for Vasco since returning to the club on an initial loan last season, before completing a permanent switch from Aston Villa this summer.
However, Vickery poured cold water on the prospect of the 33-year-old doing enough to convince Carlo Ancelotti of a place in his squad.
On Coutinho’s chances of a Brazil call-up, Vickery continued: “Well, all the Vasco fans are saying yes, yes, yes, but this was probably his only good game since he’s been back.
“So I think you can mark that one down as unlikely.
“It is a strange two games because they’re at home to Chile, who can’t qualify, bottom of the table, stand-in coach, not interested, and they’re away to Bolivia, where the altitude is so much that it’s just a one-off.
“So Ancelotti may well call up players who you won’t see again.”