Has unremitted diving blemished Neymar's image ?

Neymar during the game against Granada

The summer of 2013 saw Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid making a bid to land the rising star of Brazil-Neymar Jr. After his impressive displays at the Confederation Cup in his home-town, he was a prime target for some of the top European clubs, particularly the aforementioned Spanish duo.

The Catalan club ultimately won the race to sign him for 57 million Euros and he was unveiled as a Barcelona player on June 3rd 2013. Since then, the Brazilian international has gone on to make as many as 40 appearances for the Blaugrana scoring a total of 15 goals in the process.

Although he hasn’t emulated that goal scoring form which he has shown when he has been on National duty, he has garnered a lot of criticism for his contemptuous diving on the pitch. His exaggerated reaction to even the slightest amount of contact has been severely castigated by pundits around the globe.

His Brazilian compatriot and footballing legend Pele has also reprimanded these antics of his. He quotes,”Yes, yes, he had this problem in Santos also. I think he tries to create fouls and situations that are not there. But now he got much better because in Europe, things are different”.

One of the most prominent examples is during the Confederations Cup match against Uruguay. The number of times he has indulged in such histrionics was more than the number of shots Brazil had on target. Who knows, it maybe is his natural tendency to over-react or just profound attempts to win a free-kick or a penalty. But what we know is that all this while his image has been, upto some extent, tarnished. His supporters may defend it as inadvertent or accidental collapses to the ground, but in reality, it is much more deplorable.

This ugly side of his, is at times overshadowed by blistering performances on the pitch. The Puskas Award in 2011, the Golden ball and Bronze Shoe at the Confederations Cup are all testament to the same. The Spanish Super-Cup 2013, which Barcelona won for the 5th time in 6 years and for a record 11th time overall, was indeed courtesy this 22 year old. After falling behind inside 12 minutes due to the former Catalan David Villa’s strike, Barcelona breathed a sigh of relief just after the hour mark as Neymar scored the equalizer.

Although the second leg at Camp Nou ended in a goal-less draw, the Blaugrana emerged triumphant on away-goals. This amazing start to his career in Spain further augmented the expectations surrounding him.

However, his on-field stunts have led to criticisms about his despicable unsportsmanlike conduct and he has even been penalized with a yellow card on multiple occasions. But that hasn’t stopped him much. Moreover, Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has lashed out at Neymar, claiming that the Barcelona forward had allegedly let himself down with his theatrics in Tuesday’s 1-1 Champions League clash in Catalunya. He quoted,”Diving is his characteristic, like Alexis Sanchez did when I coached him at River Plate. This part of his game lets him down”. Well, he has let everyone down.

I personally look up to Neymar as one of the best young talents of our generation. With the likes of Gareth Bale,Eden Hazard,Marco Reus all being his contemporaries and future rivals, he has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or in the near future, beating all of them. But I feel he must eradicate diving from his game. The Barcelona star is an easy target for hard-tackling defenders and rival fans, meaning Neymar would be wise to limit the amount of abuse coming his way with greater honesty in his performances.

And with the World Cup lurking around the corner, he needs to be at his best behavior otherwise he would end up causing permanent, irreversible damage to his burgeoning reputation, especially considering he is the face of the tournament.