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Neymar dives to greatness, amid global ridicule

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Brazilian striker Neymar has become a global joke, a somersaulting clown, a diver and a prima donna.

In a sport where being in the vertical should be a distinct advantage, Neymar, sometimes Neymar Junior (full name, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior), has accumulated a reported 14 minutes in the World Cup competition thus far, writhing about on the deck in horrible pain, before getting lightly to his feet, sprinting off and scoring yet another goal.

Certainly, if Neymar, was an AFL player, he’d be dragged, forced to sit on the pine and think about what he did. In rugby, he’d be stomped mercilessly at the breakdown. In NRL, he’d almost certainly be killed. In soccer, or football at the insistence of my editor, he’s a gun and may one day become the greatest of all time.

SBS commentator, Craig Foster, declared him “a genius”, albeit a flawed one. Mozart was a genius. Michelangelo, too. No doubt. Unless Neymar is scribbling down a piano concerto in A Major or resolving the intrinsic paradox of transcendental bijection in the spacetime continuum before banging the ball into the back of the net, I suspect he comes up short in the genius stakes.

Full column here.

533 Comments

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    Here we read, Mr. Insider, of the very reason England lost the World Cup Soccer and it’s all down to a Mick Jagger jinx!: “If there’s anything English soccer fans attending the World Cup wanted besides a win, they wanted Mick Jagger to keep his infamous sports curse as far away from Moscow as possible.
    But you can’t always get what you want.
    The British rock legend has a notorious history of being a jinx on any national team he supports at the World Cup.
    On Wednesday, Jagger sat in attendance as England took a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in its final extra minutes against Croatia.”
    https://tinyurl.com/y74cw38h

    • Trivalve says:

      Oh pleez…

    • Trabvitch says:

      Hi Razor – You beat me to it. The man is not fit to be PM, or to hold any public office. I am a long time LLiberal (Big L, deliberate misspelling). I do not like eMTee, but at least he seems to have something, but I don’t know what! Bill Shorten comes across as a total venal character, just trying to tick the “PM” box in his CV to the detriment of our country. Possibly eMTee is doing the same but with some credibility of actually achieving something productive in life …
      Onto you Dismasted to make your usual viperous comments. I too have worked in parts of the world where prophylactics are required, hence my prophylactic against Dismasted comments.

    • wraith says:

      you do realise that’s an opinion piece in the oz dont you? Yeah, pleeeeeeaze.

    • Bella says:

      Hey Razor, I’ve been in Townsville for a busy few days & I just wanted
      to tell you that I wore my StopAdani shirt all day yesterday & I survived, in fact, we got a thumbs-up from a few folks.
      From what you said way back, I expected trouble with a capital T, so I’m a little confused, cos everyone’s been real nice.
      There’s still a chance I may get out of here in one piece mate.
      Wish me luck! 🤗😉

  • Dismayed says:

    Here is another one highlighting Sims numbers don’t make sense and his decade long efforts to stop roof top solar. No Surprises.
    https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-regulators-still-cant-imagine-a-clean-energy-future-12922/

  • Dismayed says:

    Here is an analysis of some of Rod Sims ACCC numbers that don’t seem to add up.
    https://reneweconomy.com.au/is-rod-sims-having-a-lend-of-us-84174/

    • Bella says:

      The ‘independent’ (what a joke) ACCC report, as expected, has been hijacked by the zealots of the far right because Turncoat hasn’t got the intestinal fortitude to back in his belief in renewable energy.
      The fossils will do anything, say anything, to get more dirty coal mines.

      • Bella says:

        Have I got this part right Dismayed?
        The ACCC wants the solar Renewable Energy Scheme subsidy wound down and abolished by 2021??
        What the…?

        • Dismayed says:

          Yes Bella. Sims has been running an anti solar campaign for over a decade. A report out today shows it was because of small scale (home) Solar last summer the NEM was able to stay stable during the hottest 3 days of the year. The solar reduced the peak load on the system into the evening. Sims is just another ideologue like all the rest of appointments the cons make. subsidies/feed in tarrif’s have been winding down anyway. it is already economically viable to install 5kw panels and an 8kw battery even without feed in tariffs it will have paid for itself within 6 years. Unfortunately in SA the new Liberal government have shut down Tesla and Sonnen who wanted to install solar and batteries on the roofs of 60,000 low income homes reducing their bills and providing a 250mw virtual grid again to stabilize on those couple of hot days. Instead the Libs will use over $200 million of taxpayer money to subsidise those who already have panels and are no where near as needy as the low income homes. this is pure conservative ideology nothing to do with the National interest or giving consumers cheaper power.

          • Bella says:

            So this Report is not independent in any way, it’s just another corrupt review/inquiry wholly dictated by a dodgy government of bought-off fossil-fuel puppets.

  • Gryzly says:

    AFL tips please

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    World Cup Soccer Roundup, Mr. Insider and a huge shock as England bow out! The Final will now be between France and Croatia.
    https://tinyurl.com/y8jq4s7n

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    Well done QLD last night, Mr. Insider, in the last of the 3 game State of Origin Series for 2018. NSW, of course, has won the Series already 2-1 well done them. Goodbye to Billy Slater from Origin Footy what a Champ this guy is. The game right up to the end could have gone either way the final score being QLD 18 and NSW 12.
    https://tinyurl.com/yb3gcypf

  • Perentie says:

    I just had a look at the lyrics to “It’s Coming Home”, and oddly it doesn’t seem to specify whether home is Paris or Zagreb?

    • Milton says:

      The thousand’s of poms who got that tattooed on various parts of their white, unwashed bodies should fork out another 10 pounds for “…in…”. They can thank their lucky stars they didn’t work themselves into a frenzy and get flogged 5-0 by the frogs. As you have alluded to, their lengthy experience with failure will see them through this, Thankfully they may repeat the process again in 4 yrs time.

      Backing Croatia in the final. Go the red and whites!!!!!

  • Jean Baptiste says:

    Our Blessed Father in Heaven,
    We give our eternal thanks this day,
    For sparing us from the English.

    • Mack the Knife says:

      Now, now, they gave you your country back. Wouldn’t have minded seeing a France / England final, that would have been fitting. Long time since woar Bobby Charlton and the luds won the cup.

      • Jean Baptiste says:

        Dubious win 66. Didn’t the Europeans conspire to stitch up Brazil.
        No Mack, the poms are unbearable at the best of times and if by sheer fluke they won we’d never hear the end of it. Now that France has won we wont hear a mention. Thank God for that. Apart from suggestions of drug cheating.

  • Tracy says:

    I don’t want to talk about it

    • Jack The Insider says:

      We shall not go into details but it looks like France’s job just got a tiny bit easier.

    • Perentie says:

      I do. It’s for the best. Celebration can be dangerous for the English. Did you see the bloke crash through the top of a bus shelter after they won the quarter final? It would be carnage if they won the Cup. The English are better people for suffering disappointment with their sporting teams. It brings out the stiff upper lip stoicism which they do so well.

    • Trivalve says:

      Well, I’ve become a big Jordan Pickford fan Tracy. I for two am sorry they lost. The curse of the early goal.

      • Tracy says:

        The curse of the early goal and the late equaliser, can’t remember so many goals coming so late in matches, I for one am a fan of the VAR too it’s done it’s job when called on.
        Pickford has been excellent no doubt his agent will be fielding some calls, the penalty shoot outs/set pieces Southgate instilled in them reaped dividends.
        For once this bunch of youngsters has put a bit of faith in the train wreck that was always the England team, still Belgium to go a much better team but fourth place is ok by me.

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