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It seems like a heartbreaking theme we’ve seen far too often. Neymar Jr., once heralded as one of the defining players of his generation, finds himself sidelined again. It feels like just a few weeks ago that the Brazilian sensation was making up one-third of perhaps the finest attacking trident the world had ever seen alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez with Barcelona. Indeed, he netted the third goal in the Blaugrana’s most recent UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus in Berlin.
However, those exploits were a decade ago, and in the years since, the beloved Samba star has suffered with one injury after another. The most recent of them came just last month, as Neymar was once again crocked with an injury just a handful of games into his return to boyhood club Santos. It remains to be seen whether the once blistering winger can make a full recovery at the age of 33.
Yet Another Neymar Injury
Neymar’s latest blow was sustained in Santos’ 2-0 victory against Atlético Mineiro back in April. The former Barcelona star limped off in the first half with a thigh injury, an injury which manager Leandro Zago claims isn’t related to his previous woes. Whether the 128-time Brazil international features for his boyhood club again before his contract expires on June 30th remains to be seen.
Neymar was once the great hope for the Brazilian national team. He was the chosen one, the golden boy, the one set to inherit the throne left by the greats of Pele and Ronaldinho. He led the Seleção as captain at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scoring some dazzling goals in the process. But now, he may never feature for them again.
The bookies had Brazil earmarked as one of the favorites to win next summer’s World Cup, but this latest knock to their talisman has seen their odds drift. The latest World Cup real money gambling at Bovada odds now lists the record five-time champions as a distant +800 shot, well behind reigning champions Argentina and Euro 2024 winners Spain. Those weighing up the real money gambling odds and trying to decide where to place their bets may look at other teams as a result.
Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 was supposed to catapult him into Ballon d’Or conversations, springing him out of Messi’s admittedly huge shadow in Catalonia and into a stratosphere of his own. But his time in Ligue 1 became a patchwork of brilliance and extended absences. His switch to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia initially promised reinvention, but once again, the injuries came calling. Al Hilal poured a fortune into capturing Neymar, only to see their marquee player falter physically, and ultimately end up costing the Saudi club a staggering €12.8 million per appearance.
While Neymar’s career narrative is still playing out, his situation echoes the trajectory of other supremely talented players who never truly conquered their injury demons. Here are two former superstars whose careers ultimately ended up bittersweet.
Ronaldo Nazário
Few players in football history have embodied greatness like Ronaldo Nazário, R9, the Original Ronaldo. Known simply as “El Fenómeno,” the Brazilian hitman possessed an electrifying combination of speed, strength, skill, and finishing ability. During his early years with PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, and Inter Milan, it seemed like he had everything required to dominate for a decade. By the age of 21, he was already a Ballon d’Or winner, and his star power was unmatched.
But two devastating knee injuries would define Ronaldo’s career. The first came in 1999 at Inter Milan, sidelining him for five months. Upon his return in 2000, disaster struck again just minutes into his return. A ruptured tendon in the same knee kept him out for nearly two years.
Unlike most, Ronaldo would make a miraculous comeback to lead Brazil to World Cup glory in Japan and South Korea in 2002. Despite hardly featuring for the Nerazzurri in the build-up to the showpiece, the former Cruzeiro youngster somehow captured his best form in the Far East, netting a whopping eight times in the tournament, including a brace against Germany in the final. But that ultimately proved to be his last dance at just the tender age of 26.
Sure, Ronaldo kept on playing. He turned out for Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Corinthians right up until 2011, as well as playing in his fourth World Cup in 2006, even becoming the tournament’s record scorer. But following that summer in Japan, he wasn’t the phenom that he once was. His explosive pace had deserted him, and it was almost impossible for him to remain fit for a full season.
What should have been a sustained reign of dominance was cut short by relentless physical struggles. Still, we will always have that summer in the Far East.
Michael Owen
For football fans of the late ’90s and early 2000s, Michael Owen was the ultimate boy wonder. The scintillating striker burst onto the scene with Liverpool at the age of just 18, bagging 23 goals in 44 appearances in his breakout 1997/98 season. He was being heralded as the chosen one to bring English football back from the doldrums, and that looked to be accurate when he scored a blistering solo goal for the Three Lions against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.
Over the next few years, the goals flowed with regular aplomb. In 2001, he led the Reds to a treble, netting 24 times along the way. A hat trick in England’s 5-1 away victory against Germany was the catalyst to win the Ballon d’Or at just 21, and he remains the most recent Englishman to claim the coveted award. In 2004, he was on the move to Real Madrid, and while he continued to score goals at a rate of one-in-two, the powers that be at the Bernabeu preferred the aforementioned Ronaldo and Raul, rather than the English star.
After a year in the Spanish capital, Owen moved back to England, specifically to Newcastle United. However, it was here that the injuries began to pile up. He was restricted to just 11 appearances in his first season at St. James’ Park, and then a devastating knee blow at the 2006 World Cup saw him ruled out for another year. That was the beginning of the end for the one-time explosive hitman. Throughout the final six years of his career, that once fearsome pace was no longer there, and without that, defenders handled him with ease. By the age of 33, he had retired, leaving supporters dreaming of what might have been.
