President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva The call of the injured Neymar to the 2026 World Cup was ironic and described the Santos player as the first “home office” footballer called for the competition.
“Neymar is not even playing. Neymar is the first called home office in the world“said the progressive leader in an official event in the city of Belo Horizonte, when contradicting a child who expressed his admiration for the attacker.
Lula admitted that the title of “footballer home office” with which he referred to the injured player, who He hasn’t played a game for more than a monthhe took it from a message he received on the internet.
The president, a renowned soccer fan, added that, at the rate things are going, “One day we will set up a team with artificial intelligence in which we will include eleven Pelés”.
Last Saturday, shortly before Brazil debuted in the World Cup with a 1-1 draw with Morocco questionedthe president asked coach Carlo Ancelotti to guide his players to act with “soul” and “claw”.
But on Wednesday, after the Canarinha draw and Lionel Messi’s brilliant performance in Argentina’s rout of Algeria, Lula joked again: “I was thinking about hiring Messi to play in Brazil”.
Neymar, who was called up by Ancelotti despite the fact that He has been fighting different injuries for several monthshe missed the Canarinha’s first match against Morocco and He didn’t even travel to Philadelphia for the game against Haiti.
“Neymar will remain in New Jersey to optimize the final phase of his recovery process,” reported the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), recalling that the forward He only trained for the first time with his teammates on Wednesday.
The former Barcelona and PSG attacker He was injured on May 17just one day before Carlo Ancelotti included him in the squad list for the World Cup.
Neymar, from 34 years, He has not played with the Brazilian national team since October 17, 2023when he suffered a serious injury to the ligaments and meniscus in his left knee in a South American qualifying match against Uruguay.