A young man in his early 20s became a veteran in his 30s and played a thrilling return match to his home team.
Neymar (33), a Brazilian superstar who left Al Hilal for Santos on the 31st of last month, entered the stadium with a standing ovation from the crowd at the start of the second half in the seventh round of the 2025 Campeonatu Paulista against Botafogu at the Estadio Urbano Caldeira in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the 6th (Korea time). Neymar, who replaced Gabriel Bontempo in uniform No. 10, actively played on the ground for 45 minutes. Santos, who was leading by Thiquiño Soares' first goal in the 38th minute of the first half, allowed Alexandri de Jesus to equalize in the 22nd minute of the second half and drew 1-1.
Neymar, who joined Al Hilal in the summer of 2023 and played only seven games (one goal) in the aftermath of his injury for two seasons, showed off his unique brilliant footwork, sparkling dribbles and shooting skills, as if there were no injuries. Neymar's left foot shot, which dug in the middle from the right, was shot by the opposing goalkeeper.
Neymar said after the match: "I love Santos. I can't describe how I felt when I entered this stadium again tonight."
Neymar himself is more surprised than anyone by Neymar's performance. He said "I'm not 100% fit yet, so I need time to play. I didn't expect to run this much today and dribble. I think it will be better in four or five games."
Neymar, a former Santos youth player, scored 136 goals in 225 games in a Santos jersey before moving to Barcelona in 2013. If it is short, he has performed tremendously in a short period of time.
There was a lot going on for Santos while Neymar played for Al Hilal through Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Santos, the soulful club of Brazilian legend Pele, was relegated to the second division for the first time in the club's history in 2023 and 111. And won the Seria B last season and was promoted to the first division.
Neymar said on his personal social media, "'The results were bad, but today was a really special day"I will do my best to put Santos on top in the future. We are invincible if team members, fans are together."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
