Neymar’s latest night at the Maracana ended in a full-blown meltdown – aimed first at the referee, then at his own coach as Santos faced a 2-3 defeat against Flamengo in the Brasileirão.
The Brazil star was booked, saw decisions go against his side, and then left the pitch visibly furious when he was substituted in the 85th minute, deepening the sense of crisis around a relegation-threatened Santos.
Neymar calls the referee arrogant
The flashpoint began well before the final whistle. Neymar repeatedly complained to referee Savio Pereira Sampaio and went into the book in the 36th minute, just before Flamengo’s opening goal from a corner.
As reported by Globo, Neymar launched a scathing attack on the official. “The referee is very bad. Besides being bad, with all due respect, he’s arrogant. That’s the word. Every time they go to the locker room, they say that the captain is the one who can speak. When we go to speak, he turns his back and runs away,” said the Brazilian star.
Neymar also alleged that Sampaio effectively warned him off any further dialogue. According to the report by Globo, the forward claimed the referee told him, “If you come near me, I’ll give you a yellow card.” Neymar insisted he was only trying to talk and that the caution came because of that threat.
The yellow card was immediately followed by the corner from which Flamengo took the lead. Neymar argued that the sequence should never have happened in the first place, insisting there was a foul on Santos goalkeeper Gabriel Brazao in the build-up that went unpunished.
“In my opinion, it was a foul on Brazao, and it wouldn’t have resulted in a corner kick, which led to their goal. The refereeing in Brazil has been making huge mistakes. This needs to be addressed. The referee’s arrogance today, whose name I don’t even know, was awful,” Neymar added.
Anger spills over late substitution
If the officiating was the first target of Neymar’s frustration, his own bench became the second.
With Santos trailing and chasing the game, coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda decided to change his front line in the 85th minute, sending on Rollheiser. As his number went up, Neymar turned toward the touchline and asked his coach, “Are you going to take me off?”
Rather than sit with substitutes, he then headed straight down the tunnel to the dressing room, a gesture that underlined his anger at being withdrawn while Santos were still fighting to salvage a point.
Flamengo held on for a 3-2 win, leaving Santos stuck in 17th place, inside the relegation zone, on 33 points. The position only amplifies the fallout from their biggest star publicly tearing into the referee and appearing to clash with his coach on the same night.
For now, the most striking images from the Maracana are not of Neymar’s touches on the ball, but of him arguing with officials, collecting a yellow card, and disappearing down the tunnel as Santos’ survival battle grows even more complicated.
