Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr has scored two goals at the FIFA World Cup 2018 so far, but more than for his goals, he has been making news for his “dives”.
According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, Neymar’s overacting on the ground has resulted in loss of almost 14 minutes of play time. The Brazilian footballer has attracted a lot of negative attention from the media as well from fans due to his dives and waste of time during matches.
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 4, 2018
Despite Neymar being the key player in Brazil’s squad, his playacting has overshadowed his skills and the goals scored by him.
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In FIFA World Cup 2018, Brazil have played four games so far and Neymar has been fouled 23 times. Though not all the tackles were terrible, the PSG star made a meal of quite a few of them following which social media was filled with memes of him rolling down mountains, hills and all sorts of landscapes.
NAHHHH HE YELLED “NEYMAR” 😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/3D57UEwnEw
— Castro1021 (@Castro1021) July 5, 2018
Neymar in training for the #BRABEL 😂😂😂😂😂#WorldCup pic.twitter.com/cgdiVzLrEx
— Ciku 🇰🇪 (@Ciku_Muriithi) July 6, 2018
Neymar’s skills are being “taught” across the world now 😝 😆 pic.twitter.com/5hD1L6p3pg
— Arvind Jha (@jalajboy) July 6, 2018
We love NeyMar 😂😂😂😂
Neymar keeps rollin rollin rollin. pic.twitter.com/Z5xitsir8V— D∆nilo H∆rris🇵🇹 (@_DaniloHarris) July 6, 2018
Neymar in training..😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/6OEhJKAQLq
— Mero Football (@MeroFootball) July 6, 2018
“Neymar roll” by @SushmaSwaraj‘s substitute @rammadhavbjp pic.twitter.com/U14hEm5lhx
— karadi (@KaaviKaradi) July 6, 2018
Even the KFC South Africa has mocked Neymar for his overacting by releasing an ad of a player rolling all the way to an outlet of the fast-food chain.
Swiss broadcaster RTS did a breakdown of “time wasted” in the tournament because of Neymar. And as per the reports, in round 16 during Brazil vs Mexico game, Neymar wasted 5 minutes and 29 seconds. In the game against Mexico, the longest time taken by Neymar due to tackle was two minutes when Layun walked on ace PSG footballer’s right ankle in the 71st minute.
Neymar wasted one minute and 56 seconds and 3 minutes and 40 seconds in the group stage matches against Serbia and Switzerland respectively. The total time wasted by Neymar on the pitch adds up to 13 minutes and 50 seconds in the entire tournament.
Brazil will next face Belgium in the quarter-final on Friday (6th July).