A few hours before the match, the Brazilian criticized the quality of the pitch.
Neymar’s move to Saudi Arabia has made local football fans happy. However, the star Brazilian was in no hurry to join the scorers race: at first he did not take the field due to injury, and then he simply could not find his moment. But still, the goalless silence of the Olympic champion has come to an end.
The former PSG and Barcelona forward delighted fans with his first goal for Al-Hilal.
“Mission accomplished”
This year the Saudi Arabian Championship has acquired a whole constellation of world-class football players. Ex-Barcelona and PSG player Neymar was also expected to grace the local league with his performance. Al-Hilal did not skimp, paying 90 million euros for the 31-year-old Brazilian. However, the Brazilian did not immediately manage to meet the expectations of local fans. He missed several rounds due to health problems, and when he started to take the field, he couldn’t score.
It cannot be said that Neymar was completely useless: already in his first game as part of the new team, the Brazilian gave two assists, organizing one of the goals for ex-Zenit footballer Malcom. But still, after four matches for Al-Hilal, the star Brazilian still had no goals scored, which is an alarming sign for a recognized goalscorer. Many of the forward’s colleagues, who moved to Saudi Arabia from top European clubs, have already settled in and consistently delighted fans with goals. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo, Malcom, Sadio Mane did not have any problems with performance. What about Neymar?
And Neymar broke his goalless streak only in his fifth game for Al-Hilal, and even then not in the national championship, but in the Asian Champions League. Jorge Jesus’ team went to Iran, where they met with the local Nassaji Mazandaran. The Brazilian, by the way, managed to criticize the field on which he had to play before the game. But, as it turned out, problems with the lawn did not become critical for the guests: they defeated the opponent with a score of 3:0. Serbian Alexander Mitrovic opened the scoring in the 18th minute, and in the 58th minute, ex-partner Lionel Messi increased the advantage of the Saudi team.
Nasser Al-Dawsari, having dispersed the attack, got rid of the ball, entrusting it to Neymar. The Brazilian was in an advantageous position: behind were five opponents who clearly did not have time to interfere with him, in front there was only a goalkeeper and one indecisive defender. Without waiting for the latter to enter the fight, the Brazilian took a targeted shot from outside the penalty area, hitting the lower right corner of the goal. The forward met his first goal very casually; it seemed that his partners were much more happy about this event.
Fans were delighted with Neymar’s goal, calling the Brazilian the best player in the world and explaining the “silence” by his recovery from injury. But still, it was not without criticism – some football fans thought that the level of performing skills in such tournaments was very low and there was nothing particularly to be happy about here.
– Finally Neymar scored!
— My boy scored his first goal for Al-Hilal!
– Damn it, how he launched that ball!
– Mission accomplished.
“Neymar is just wasting his time here.” It’s better to retire than to play in such leagues.
