Neymar announced he is giving up the captain’s armband after leading Brazil to an Olympic Gold medal.
The Brazil national team is arguably the most storied program in world soccer, but until now, they had never won an Olympic Gold medal. They came close in 2012, but Mexico beat them in the final. And with a chance to get revenge on Germany, Neymar led them to glory after missing the World Cup semifinal two years ago.
It was only fitting that Neymar was the one to lead them to a Gold medal after they were so reliant on him in the World Cup. It was after they got embarrassed in that tournament that Dunga took over and appointed Neymar captain. But after leading his country to this historic achievement, he has announced that he will give up the captain’s armband.
He told SporTV after the Olympics: “Today I have become a champion, and I give up the captain’s armband. It was an honour to be captain, but from today I stop being captain. I will send a message to [senior coach] Tite that, from now, he can look for another captain.”
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Perhaps Neymar wants to prove that he isn’t bigger than his country, and that one of his teammates is more worthy of being the captain. But at just 24 years old, he has accomplished so much in his career:
There isn’t a player in Brazil that can boast those same achievements. There are a few players who could take over as captain, but it’s a very short list. Two players who can effectively be ruled out are Thiago Silva and David Luiz, after they were omitted from the squad for Brazil’s next wave of World Cup qualifiers:
#BRA manager Tite has announced the squad for the WC Qualifiers games vs Ecuador & Colombia. pic.twitter.com/WN1bcOCpJ8
— Paulo Freitas (@Cynegeticus) August 22, 2016
Not to mention it was David Luiz who wore the armband during that fateful World Cup semifinal.
We will see who in this squad will wear the armband. So far, the favorites for it appear to be Willian, Philippe Coutinho, Dani Alves, Miranda or Filipe Luis. Or perhaps Weverton will wear it after coming up with a crucial save in the penalty shootout. Whoever Tite does choose to wear the armband next, it won’t feel the same.