Neres dazzles Napoli, Ancelotti eyes World Cup call-up | OneFootball

Speed, ginga, and pure talent: the Brazilian who symbolizes a free and creative football according to Damascelli. David Neres belongs to a rare breed in modern football: that of pure artists, often overlooked, sometimes forgotten, but capable of lighting up the stadium with a single touch.

Brazil, Neres is the forgotten artist enchanting Naples: Ancelotti ready to take him to the World Cup

Tony Damascelli, writing in Il Giornale, paints an intense and evocative portrait, arriving at a clear conclusion: “Carlo Ancelotti will take him to the World Cup with Brazil.”

A weighty statement, but one that finds solid foundations in the journey, talent, and maturity now reached by Napoli’s attacking winger, who has become one of the reference points of the team led by Antonio Conte.

A deceiving look, a dazzling talent

At first glance, David Neres’ eyes seem to tell a story of tiredness. It’s the effect of congenital ptosis, a condition that slightly relaxes the eyelids but has never clouded his vision of the game, nor his ability to read the field. “Only the eyelid is lazy,” writes Damascelli, because in every other way Neres is pure explosiveness.

On the pitch, he has “the speed of a cheetah,” accelerates, changes direction, sows panic among his opponents. He’s a player who plays first with instinct and then with tactics, one of those who break the mold and bring football back to its original dimension: street, imagination, courage.

Ginga as a philosophy of life and football

Neres carries ginga with him, not just as a technical gesture but as a worldview. Dribbling, backheels, nutmegs, magician’s tricks: everything Gianni Brera called “street football” and that fans today are clamoring for, tired of rigid systems and frozen geometries.

He grew up admiring Ronaldinho and Messi, models of a joyful and creative football. It’s no surprise, then, that Damascelli places him in the “forgotten and neglected tribe of football artists,” a category increasingly rare in the era of hyper-tactical organization.

From São Paulo to Europe: a journey of lights and shadows

His path has been anything but linear. Born in São Paulo, the city that once evoked Maradona and now has found a new idol in him, Neres has traveled through Europe, absorbing different football cultures. Ajax in Amsterdam, with its vertical and technical football. Donetsk, marked by skies darkened by bombs, with De Zerbi’s Shakhtar. Then Lisbon, Benfica, the ideal place for a rebirth, thanks also to the language and an environment closer to his roots.

These have been years of growth, but also of uncertainty. Purple-dyed hair, outlandish choices, up to the episode that has become almost legendary: the ignored phone call from Brazilian coach Tite. Neres didn’t answer because he didn’t recognize the number, convinced it was “the usual nuisance.” A gaffe that says a lot about the character, instinctive and not inclined to formalities.

Naples as a treasure island

The move to Naples represents a decisive turning point. Despite a beginning marked by an unpleasant episode—the theft of his watch—his Neapolitan experience was not compromised. On the contrary, Neres found the ideal context to express himself, becoming today one of the most showcased men in Conte’s team.

Naples welcomed him, valued him, and returned him to great international football. Behind him is a family that has always believed in him: his mother Maria, attentive to the importance of studies, and his father Miguel, who realized he had “a precious nugget” at home.

The circle closes: Ancelotti and the World Cup

Now destiny seems ready to close the circle. There’s a “former Neapolitan,” Carlo Ancelotti, ready to make the most of this technical and human treasure. According to Damascelli, the Italian coach will have no doubts: David Neres will be part of Brazil at the next World Cup.

It would be the ultimate recognition for a footballer who has never stopped believing in football as art. An artist whom Naples has rediscovered and whom the world may soon admire on the greatest stage of all.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.