Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar dropped strong hints that his international career may be over after Brazil was knocked out of the World Cup by Norway in the round of 16 on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The forward stepped up to convert a penalty kick in stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough to save Brazil, who fell 2-1 to Norway. The loss eliminated the five-time World Cup champions and pushed their pursuit of a sixth title further into the future.
Shortly after the final whistle, Neymar spoke briefly with Bruno Formiga, a commentator for the Brazilian channel ge tv, and appeared to signal that his time wearing the national team jersey had come to an end.
“I tried, I tried … Now it’s over! I started here, I finished here,” Neymar said, pointing to the significance of the New Jersey stadium — the same venue where he made his debut for Brazil in a friendly against the United States back in 2010.
The 34-year-old was visibly emotional following the defeat, which marked Brazil’s worst World Cup showing since 1990.
The loss also puts Brazil on track for their longest title drought since they first captured the World Cup. Should they fail to win in 2030, it will have been 28 years since they last lifted the trophy.
Should Neymar officially announce his retirement from international soccer, he would close out his Brazil career having scored 80 goals and recorded 58 assists in 130 matches.
While Neymar has collected numerous trophies at the club level, his only major honor with the Brazilian national team was the 2013 Confederations Cup.
