From the Women’s World Cup to the Saudi Pro League, the Urban Pitch Podcast crew discusses it all in their latest episode.
When Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain six years ago, it felt like we were on the cusp of a new era in football. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were into their 30s, and they would surely soon vacate the throne that they had shared for so long. The prince in waiting was the dazzling 25-year-old Brazilian now on a new team and out of Messi’s shadow, able to blossom in the sunlight.
It didn’t quite pan out in the way many expected. Ronaldo and Messi still had some gas in the tank, winning three out of the next five Ballons d’Or, and Neymar would find himself alongside another superstar that would eventually eclipse him in Kylian Mbappe.
Injuries continued to plague Neymar, and he never won a coveted UEFA Champions League title with PSG, coming the closest in 2020 with a runner-up finish to Bayern Munich.
With his time in Paris over and a move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal complete, many have described Neymar’s career a disappointment, with some even going as far to say a failure. But if you look beyond the hype and actually at what he’s been able to accomplish over his illustrious career, very few can compare.
His 188 combined goals and assists in 173 total appearances with PSG can hardly be described as a failure, and while Ligue 1 and French football overall may be lopsided and generally overlooked, he earned plenty of trophies in Paris.
Sure he never lived up to the hype that came with his record-breaking transfer from Barcelona, but that bar might have been an impossible one to reach.
The Urban Pitch Podcast crew discusses Neymar’s latest transfer to Al-Hilal and more, including the United States women’s national team’s disappointing performance at the Women’s World Cup, and how other nations have caught up with the longtime standard bearers in the women’s game.
You can watch the entire podcast on YouTube, or listen to the audio on streaming services including Apple and Spotify.
