RTE PUNDITS Liam Brady and Richie Sadier were far from impressed with Neymar after Brazil’s shock exit at the World Cup.
The five-time winners were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition on penalties by Croatia, who advanced to the semi-finals for the second World Cup on the bounce. on Friday.
The Samba Boys thought that they had booked their place in the last four when Neymar capped off a flowing move to put them 1-0 up in extra-time.
The goal – Neymar’s 77th – was a historic one for the PSG ace, as he drew level with Pele at the top of the all-time charts.
However, Croatia came roaring back, equalising through Bruno Petkovic before beating Brazil 4-2 on penalties.
Speaking on RTE afterwards, Liam Brady was scathing in his assessment of both Neymar and his teammates, calling the 30-year-old a “failure”.
He said: “Neymar’s contribution to the game was very, very poor.
“He’ll go away as a failurein his Brazilian career, won’t he? He got injured in 2014 when the finals were in Brazil.
“He didn’t materialise in 2018 and he hasn’t materialised here.
“People were saying this is a great Brazil team, Samba football, but it showed today that it is nowhere near a great Brazil team.”
Chiming in, Richie Sadlier echoed Brady’s assessment on Neymar, and suggested that he missed his last chance to become immortal in a Brazilian shirt.
He added: “In terms of Neymar’s legacy, there was a lot of talk beforehand and I think a lot of people – Neymar himself included – knew that this was his opportunity to eventually leave the Brazilian shirt and Brazil squad as someone who could deliver at the highest level.
“I think he will be remembered as somebody who had a huge amount of individual talent, bag loads of potential, a load of caps to equal Pele’s record, but when it came to when it really, really mattered, he didn’t come close to delivering what was required.”
Brady interjected that he wouldn’t put the ex-Barcelona star was “not in the top five Brazilian players” he had seen, before calling him a “large cod”.
While Brady was vociferous in his verdict of Brazil, he was far more positive in his appraisal of Croatia mastermind Luka Modric.
He said of the 37-year-old: “He is the standout midfielder over the last 10 years for me.
“He is always in a position to receive the ball. Sometimes, he just stands still but he knows he is going to get it.
“His passing is nearly always positive.
“He nearly alays tries to get in behind his opposition midfield, get it into his forward players or out to his wingers, and then he is also capable of getting up around the box and scoring a goal.
“He’s been, easily, the best midfield player over the last 10 years and what a credit he is as a sportsman.
“You never see him roll over when he gets heavy treatement. You never seem him roll over or feign injury.
“He has been such a credit to Croatia and the game of football.”