“I do not punish him for pleasure; I do it because it is necessary,” insisted Santos’s coach, Dorival Junior. It was September 2010 and an 18-year-old Neymar had been banished from the first team and fined a third of his month’s wages after throwing a tantrum when he was not allowed to take a penalty during a match against Atlético Goianiense.
Twenty-four hours later Dorival was packing his bags after the Santos board opted to side with their teenage prodigy rather than the man who had just led their team to a thrilling victory in the Campeonato Paulista, winning 65% of his matches. The message was clear: Neymar is most important.
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