内马尔入选世界杯名单：一次意外的选择

The main figure is Neymar.

Who is Neymar?

He is one of Brazil's most famous football players.

Many people say

he is one of the most gifted players

of this era.

For Brazil's national team, Neymar

has scored 79 goals.

That is the most in Brazil's history,

more than the famous Pelé.

When he was young,

he played for Barcelona in Spain.

Later,

he went to Paris in France.

The Neymar of that time

was one of the most expensive

and most brilliant players in the world.

But what we are going to talk about today

is not his most brilliant period.

What we are going to talk about

is how, from a very low place,

he stood back up.

First, his injury.

In October 2023,

Neymar was playing for the Brazil team.

During the match,

his knee was seriously injured.

Doctors said

that inside the knee,

a very important "band" had torn.

This kind of injury,

for an athlete,

is terrifying.

Many players,

after suffering this kind of injury,

never get back to

their former level.

After the injury,

Neymar's last two years

have been hard.

He first went to play in Saudi Arabia.

But because of the injury,

he played very little.

Later,

he returned to Santos.

Santos

is the club where, as a child,

he started playing football.

You could say

it is the "home" of his football.

But after going home,

the situation was not really good either.

This February,

he had surgery once again.

After he came back,

in the Brazilian league

he scored only four goals

and had two assists.

An "assist"

means helping someone else score.

For a player like Neymar,

this record

is fairly low.

Compared with his time at Barcelona

and at Paris before,

there is simply no comparison.

So,

before the squad was announced,

many people felt:

Neymar

could not go to the World Cup.

Here,

we should first get to know

this year's World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup

is a very special edition.

The number of countries taking part

is larger than before.

The matches are held in the USA,

Canada,

and Mexico —

three countries.

It starts on June 11.

For every player,

being able to go to the World Cup

is a lifelong dream.

The Brazil national team

now has a new coach.

He is called Ancelotti,

and he is Italian.

Ancelotti

is one of the most famous coaches in the world.

He has led many big teams

and won many big competitions.

Now,

it is his turn to decide:

who can represent Brazil

and go play in the World Cup.

On May 19,

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

Ancelotti announced the squad.

There were 26 people on the list in all.

When Neymar's name was read out,

the people there

let out the loudest cheer.

Neymar

had been selected.

Hearing this news,

Neymar cried.

Some reports say

he cried for a long time.

For him,

these two years had been so hard.

The injury,

the surgery,

being doubted by people —

he had been through it all.

Now,

he was finally back with the national team.

So here is the question:

Neymar right now

is not playing his best.

Why did Ancelotti

still choose him?

Ancelotti gave several reasons.

First,

he said he had watched Neymar for a whole year.

Recently,

Neymar's physical condition

has been slowly improving.

Second,

it is experience.

This is Neymar's

fourth time going to the World Cup.

The pressure of a big tournament —

he knows it well.

What young players don't have,

he has.

Third,

it is his effect on the team.

Ancelotti said

that within the team, Neymar

is liked by everyone

and respected.

With him there,

the team's atmosphere is better.

However,

Ancelotti also said

one very important sentence.

He said

Neymar will not necessarily be a starter.

"He has to play well

"to get on the field.

In other words,

making the squad

does not equal definitely getting to play.

Neymar still has to rely on himself

to earn the chance to play.

Actually,

whether or not to pick Neymar this time

has always had two voices.

One voice says:

he should be picked.

He has experience,

he has ability,

and the crucial matches

need exactly this kind of player.

The other voice says:

he should not be picked.

You have to look at current form.

He is not playing well enough now,

and the place should go to a young player.

This time,

there were indeed some players

who did not make the squad.

Some because of injury,

some because the coach

chose someone else.

Behind every name,

there may be

a disappointed person.

Finally,

I want to talk about Neymar as a person.

Neymar is 34 years old this year.

Four years from now,

the next World Cup after this,

he almost certainly will not be able to go to.

So this time

is very likely

his last World Cup.

A player

who suffered such a serious injury,

who was doubted by so many people,

still wants once again

to stand on the World Cup stage.

That fact itself

is something to admire.

I read this news,

and I thought of a question.

When choosing people,

what exactly should we look at?

Is it what a person looks like now,

or the road he has walked?

This question

has no simple answer.

Finally I ask you:

If you were Ancelotti,

would you choose Neymar?

Think about it.

Okay.

That's all for today.

Talk tomorrow.