As Brazil geared up for the Copa America last month, a Neymar-induced pall of doom and gloom threatened to scupper the host nation’s chances before a ball had even been kicked.
The unrelenting circus surrounding the captain and talisman of the Selecao had included lurid rape revelations before an ankle injury in a warm-up game left the Paris Saint-Germain striker on crutches and out of the tournament.
It was an eerie echo of Brazil’s disastrous 2014 World Cup on home soil, when Neymar was injured in the quarterfinals and missed his team’s traumatic 7-1 humiliation against eventual champion Germany in the last four.
Yet as this year’s Copa campaign unfolded, Brazil demonstrated that it might have finally cast off the long-standing criticisms of “Neymar-dependancy.”
And by the time captain Dani Alves hoisted the trophy, Neymar had at last been shoved aside as the Copa’s major talking point.
What’s more, Brazil had proved in finishing with the tournament’s best attack, best defence, top player in Alves, top scorer in Everton and top goalkeeper in Alisson — a clean sweep of every award going — that it could thrive without Neymar.
Crucially, two of the players thrust into the spotlight by Neymar’s absence and indiscretions sparkled in the limelight.
Leading by example
In May, Alves was named captain for the tournament after Neymar hit the headlines — pre-rape allegations — for the wrong reasons with his club, picking up European and domestic bans for petulant behaviour.
Alves led by example and was named player of the tournament. The other player to take his chance was Everton, the crowd-pleasing winger who regularly lifted fans onto their feet with his direct running and determined dribbling.
Star for the present
He finished the Copa as top scorer and a star for the present rather than the future.
But he may never have been given the chance to shine had Neymar been there. As it was, Everton was not even one of Brazil’s starting forwards against either Bolivia or Venezuela, only coming on as a substitute in those matches before his performances earned him a starting berth from then on.
Had Neymar been available, Everton may have found himself further down the pecking order.
Instead, the Gremio forward established himself as the undisputed crowd favourite. He drew the biggest cheer every time his name was announced or he touched the ball.
