2014 World Cup: All eyes on poster boy Neymar as Brazil expects

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, the poster boy for a generation, is a young man with the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

Set for the biggest ask of his professional football career to date, the 22-year-old has become the spearhead for Brazil’s assault on a record sixth World Cup trophy.

That this year’s tournament is in his own backyard has only added to the pressure and ensured that the Selecao will be under the microscope like never before.

If that wasn’t enough, the games will be played against the backdrop of huge civil unrest.

Three-quarters of all Brazilian’s don’t want this World Cup taking place in their country. There is a very real sense of loving the game but hating the event and the corporate circus that surrounds it.

Even 1970 World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto, an ambassador for the tournament, told this author during an interview earlier this year that he was against the staging of it when the idea was first mooted. For exactly the same reasons why almost every other Brazilian is up in arms.

Basic services and infrastructure, schools, hospitals, public transport - all have been completely ignored in favour of trying to present a face of Brazil to the world which belies the truth.

Only a Brazilian victory is likely to mellow the dissenters, at least in the interim, so like it or not, Neymar has another huge role to play in shaping the mood of a nation.

Pressure you would imagine he could do without after a tumultuous 12 months.

It’s been just over a year since he was presented to over 56,000 adoring Catalans at Camp Nou. His capture was supposed to herald a bright new dawn for the Blaugrana.

Despite the odd flash of genius on the pitch, his tenure at Camp Nou has been mired in controversy which arguably affected his adaptation to European football.

Johan Cruyff, never backwards in coming forwards, noted in Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo:

“Barcelona's problem is Neymar. He is a great player, let there be no doubt about that, but you cannot sign a 21-year-old and pay him more than players who have won it all. Nobody is god at the age of 21," said the Dutchman.

"Plus Barcelona already have the greatest player in the world [Lionel Messi] and a 21-year-old kid cannot be the key figure. This is impossible in football. At the age of 26, yes, but not at 21.”

Huge expectactions

Once the details and full amount of his transfer fee had finally been disclosed, ending Sandro Rosell’s presidency in the process, those damaging revelations heaped further, unnecessary, pressure on the player.

No player should have to continuously field questions as to why his father pocketed the bulk of the astronomical spend for example.

15 goals in 41 appearances might not sound too bad, but when you consider that the modus operandi of his acquisition was very much based on the ideal that he would take the heat from Lionel Messi in goalscoring terms, then you can only conclude he hasn’t come anywhere close to those expectations.

Indeed, two players who needed to rotate to accommodate Neymar in a left sided berth, Pedro Rodriguez and Alexis Sanchez, both outscored the Brazilian and in less games.

WhoScored note Pedro’s 16 goals came in 31 games of which 13 were as substitute. Sanchez was second only to Messi in the scoring charts, his 19 coming in 32 games of which 11 were as a sub.

Clearly therefore Neymar hasn’t made quite the impression he had hoped for, coming to Europe as he did, the darling of the Paulistao and Brasileirao.

That will be of no consequence to Luis Felipe Scolari, who had no hesitation in cutting Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho from his World Cup squad, leaving the youngster as the only truly iconic global superstar in his side.

Such status has ensured that Neymar tops the list of highest-paid footballers on the planet. People with Money magazine’s annual list, released June 2, 2014, noted that between May 2013 and May 2013, Neymar earned a staggering $82million, almost $50million ahead of his nearest rival.

For that sort of money, the various brands that he endorses will surely be keen to be aligned to a “World Cup winner.” More pressure.

Now, on the biggest stage of all, he needs to reproduce the form that has all but deserted him since he touched down in Barcelona.

The kind of form that he displayed in the 2013 Confederations Cup where he was named Player of the Tournament. The kind of form that has already seen him bag 30 international goals in 47 appearances.

Brazil expects.

*Jason Pettigrove is a freelance FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and La Liga correspondent for @YahooSportsME as well as a number of other print/digital media. Follow him @jasonpettigrove