Neymar said Sunday he is done playing for Brazil’s national team, making the announcement after he and his teammates were knocked out of the World Cup with a 2-1 loss to Norway in the round of 16.
“I tried,” Neymar said. “It started here at MetLife Stadium, and I finished here. It is now over.”
Neymar, 34, played his first game for Brazil on Aug. 10, 2010 — a friendly against the U.S. at the stadium in the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey. Against Norway, he scored on a penalty kick in the final minutes after subbing in off the bench.
Because of a nagging right calf injury, Neymar appeared in only two of Brazil’s five games in the tournament. He also was on the field for 15 minutes against Scotland in group play.
Brazil’s best player for more than a decade had been slowed by injuries in recent years that limited his impact. The country is now entering a period of transition, with the next generation taking over.
“We ask that people will have the patience with the new generation and support them from the get-go,” captain Marquinhos said.
Erling Haaland may have scored the goals but it was Norway’s out-of-contract goalkeeper Orjan Nyland who laid the foundations for their side’s stunning 2-1 over Brazil on Sunday, saving a penalty in a World Cup last-16 game he probably would have started on the bench if it was not for a FIFA decision over another player’s eligibility.
Bodo/Glimt keeper Nikita Haikin has been tearing it up between the sticks for the past couple of seasons and when he was granted a Norwegian passport this year, the writing looked to be on the wall for 35-year-old journeyman Nyland, whose contract with Spanish club Sevilla ran out after this past season.
However, in May FIFA turned down Israeli-born Haikin’s request to switch his international allegiance from Russia, where he played two games at Under-21 level, to Norway due to residency rule requirements, opening the door for Nyland’s spectacular display. He saved an early penalty from Bruno Guimaraes, and from there he grew into the game, thwarting Vinicius Jr. and Emerick and preventing what would have been a spectacular own goal from Kristoffer Ajer, flinging himself backwards to touch the ball onto the far post and away to safety.
