Neymar is one of the most popular players in the world. Interestingly, he is not only known as one of the talented players from Samba’s Country, but he is also known as a player who often does diving. Some time ago, Neymar’s popular diving action was imitated by people around the world. Jokes about Neymar diving also often appear in various memes that were widespread throughout the virtual universe.
Then what really makes Neymar often does diving?
The Brazilian football legend, Pele admitted this. He confirmed that Neymar often did diving. However, Pele also believed that his habits would slowly fade away after the player decided to pursue his career in Europe.
“Yes, he did have this problem since he was in Santos. I think he tried to have a violation of a situation that really didn’t exist. But now he’s getting better because it’s in Europe, everything is different. “
Until now, Neymar was indeed known as a player who easily flopped when touched by opposing players. This action sometimes made the opponent upset. However, the reason Neymar did this was to protect himself from the threats that his enemies intensified.
This was also revealed by his father,
“They said it was diving, but Neymar was not diving. This is a tactic he used to use while still in Santos’ uniforms. “
Then what kind of tactics does his father mean? According to him, this was a strategy that he had learned. This was done to handle and anticipate all the collisions he could face. Diving is the right thing to do when a player gets a collision. Floating when there are crashing opponents will make you more ready, even make an advantage for the team.
Besides it, he called diving as a strategy to defend himself. Neymar also considered that football would not be exciting if there was not a bit of drama or controversy in it.
“Right now, football is a bit boring because we can’t do anything. Everything is controversial,”
Continuing to get criticism over his diving actions, Neymar defended himself by saying that many parties did not know how painful it was to be constantly violated in a match.
“Do you think I always want to be tackled throughout the game? No, it hurts,”
“After the match, I have to last for four or five hours with ice cubes. It’s difficult, but if you have never felt it, you will never understand.”
Neymar also added that the playing style that performs many dribbles deserves protection from the referee.
One of his most popular diving is when he defended the Brazilian national team in the match against the Swiss national team in the 2018 World Cup title. In the match, he had to be tackled 10 times by the Swiss players.
Neymar’s fall in the fight was what ultimately made ignorant netizens created memes about diving in Paris Saint Germain’s players. But instead of being angry, Neymar actually considered it a mere joke.
Although his action reaps many controversies and scathing comments, Neymar remains a very extraordinary player. He became one of the few field stars who successfully entertained football lovers throughout the world.
