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Neymar was perhaps showing some nerves on the eve of Brazil’s World Cup squad announcement as he lost his rag with a referee during Santos’ match on Sunday.
An officiating blunder meant the forward was accidentally substituted in the second-half of Santos’ 3-0 defeat by Coxa, with Neymar off the pitch receiving treatment at the time.
It is understood that Santos had made the decision to substitute Gonzalo Escobar, with Robinho Jr on in his place in the second-half. But, in error, the officials instead held up No 10, which is Neymar’s number.
Neymar tried to re-enter the field, but was given a yellow card for his troubles. He was eventually forced to leave.
In protest, he grabbed the slip of paper with the substitution information on, and repeatedly gestured to the officials that they had made a mistake and showed it to the camera.
It comes 24 hours before Neymar finds out if he will be heading to the World Cup this summer with Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil.
Neymar lost his rag on Sunday after he was mistakenly substituted during a Santos game
The 34-year-old, who has played 124 times for his country, was left out of the squad in March, plunging his international future into doubt.
But he was last week included in his country’s provisional 55-man squad, which will be cut to 26 on Monday.
Earlier this month, Robinho Jr, son of disgraced former Manchester City forward Robinho, reportedly sought to terminate his contract with Santos after he was ‘violently slapped in the face’ by Neymar. He accuses Santos of failing to meet ‘minimum safety conditions’.
According to Brazilian outlet R7, he issued a notice accusing Neymar of ‘uttering offensive insults, tripping him, and violently slapping him in the face’.
It also asked Santos to investigate the incident, supply footage of the training session, issue a statement, and schedule a meeting for Robinho Jr to discuss terminating his contract.
Neymar and Robinho Jr had been training with the club’s reserves when the 34-year-old took exception to being dribbled past by his 18-year-old team-mate, as per Globo.
An argument ensued after Neymar had told him to ‘take it easy’, leading to the pair pushing each other.
It is claimed the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star then slapped and tripped Robinho Jr, leading to both of them being removed from the session. It is unclear if there have been any developments since.
The forward will on Monday find out if he has made Brazil’s squad for the World Cup
Brazil’s president has also revealed that Ancelotti picked his brain over whether to select Neymar for the World Cup.
Lula said: ‘I had the chance to speak with Ancelotti, and he asked me: “Do you think Neymar should be called up?”
‘I said: “Look, Ancelotti, if he’s physically fit, he’s got the football. What I need to know is whether he actually wants it.”
Ancelotti, meanwhile, said: ‘When you have to choose, you have to consider many things. Neymar is an important player for this country because of the talent he has always shown.
‘But he has had problems and is working hard to recover. He has improved a lot recently and is playing regularly. It is, obviously, not such an easy decision for me. We have to weigh up the pros and cons carefully.’
