Neymar's Fury at Santos Pitch After Copa do Brasil Exit
Neymar rages at Santos pitch after injury in Copa do Brasil exit
The scoreline said 0-0. The tie said Palmeiras through, 3-0 on aggregate. But the real explosion at Vila Belmiro came from Neymar.
The Brazilian star limped off at the end of the first half with a thigh problem as Santos crashed out of the Copa do Brasil quarter-finals. By the time the night was over, the state of the historic stadium’s pitch had become the central storyline – and Neymar’s main target.
He didn’t hold back.
On Instagram, he opened with a cutting dose of sarcasm: “I would like to congratulate the person responsible for the Vila Belmiro stadium pitch.”
The tone then snapped from ironic to incandescent. Neymar described what he had just played on as “the worst pitch the club has ever seen”, raging at a surface “full of holes because of works carried out one day before the match.”
“Unbelievable!” he wrote, insisting Santos had faced two opponents – Palmeiras and the ground beneath their feet. “Alongside playing against the opponent, we were also playing against the pitch.”
The anger ran deeper than a single injury. Neymar highlighted how the players had to push harder just to cope with the conditions, and he pointed to the consequences.
“And to make matters worse, we had to make a greater effort because of its dreadful condition. No wonder 3 players were injured in the first half. Well done indeed... very poor work!”
His own setback only sharpened the criticism. Forced off with discomfort in his thigh, he confirmed he would undergo tests and tried to strike a defiant note, saying he hoped the problem was not serious and that the group would keep their morale high and “focus on what is coming.”
If Santos were licking their wounds, Palmeiras chose a different route. They saw Neymar’s attack and fired back with a smirk.
The São Paulo club released a pointed, sarcastic statement lauding the condition of their own pitch. They underlined that their surface receives daily maintenance and, in their words, remains in perfect condition. Their players, Palmeiras added, feel more secure because of that standard.
Then came the sting. The club proudly noted they are the Brazilian top-flight side least affected by injuries over the past five years – a statistic rolled out as a direct counter to Neymar’s complaints.
On a night when Santos went out of the cup without scoring, the loudest impact came off the ball. The tie belonged to Palmeiras. The fury belonged to Neymar. The debate over responsibility for what happened at Vila Belmiro will linger far longer than the final whistle.
