The entire MetStadium vibrated when Neymar was substituted in the round of 8 against Norway with about thirty minutes left in the game. The Brazilian icon was supposed to show these youngsters from the north which nation is the greatest in World Cup history. It ended up being Neymar’s last World Cup match ever. The last thing the legend with 80 goals and 130 games in the Brazilian shirt experienced was a quick-witted, Norwegian goalkeeper with no match practice.
It was somewhat liberating to see Neymar go towards the penalty mark in the 90th + 10th minute at 2-0 to Norway, This was supposed to be the Brazilian’s big championship, where he comes in and saves Brazil with a few minutes of magic. There was also a goal on the penalty, but the lead-up to Neymar’s 2-1 score says everything about how little Norway is in the World Cup as football tourists.
READ: Rio de Janeiro newspaper: France still World Cup favourites – Norway into top five
Because in fluent Spanish, our man on the line, Ørjan Nyland, hammers one verbal salvo after another against Neymar. The response was entertaining. Neymar responded with the same force, as he prepared for the penalty. A Norwegian goalkeeper, with a puzzled 630 minutes in the match arena in the 2025/26 season, made Neymar himself get mightily annoyed. It ended with a goal, where Neymar’s reaction was like he had won the biggest game. The Brazilian told Nyland in plain language who won, while “our man” smiled and laughed.
Just the fact that a Norwegian goalkeeper has the authority in a round of 8 in the World Cup, and sees it as completely natural to hammer away with Spanish words against the world star Neymar, then Norway has come a long way in the national team arena.
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Read on F7: Easier for England to face Brazil than Norway
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