Neymar says referee threatened him, fumes at being subbed in Santos defeat | OneFootball

This Sunday night was not a good one for Neymar and company. At Maracanã, Santos ended up defeated by Flamengo 3-2 and remained in the relegation zone of the Brazilian Championship. The number 10 for Peixe was involved in controversial moments during the match, such as when he reported at halftime an alleged threat from referee Sávio Pereira Sampaio.

“He’s very bad (Sávio). And besides being bad, with all due respect, he’s arrogant. Every time they (the referees) go into the locker room, they say the captain is the only one who can talk to the referee. But when you go to talk to him, he turns his back and runs away. You try to talk to him and you get threatened. I got a yellow card because he threatened me. He said: ‘If you come near me, I’ll give you a yellow card.’ I asked why, because for me there was a foul on Brazão at the start of their (Flamengo’s) goal. These are mistakes that refereeing in Brazil keeps making. I repeat, the arrogance of Sunday’s referee is horrible,” said Neymar in an interview with Premiere.

Frustration with substitution

Neymar started as a starter this Sunday after being rested against Palmeiras at Allianz Parque. The number 10 recently returned from injury and, by decision of coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s staff, did not play the full 90 minutes at Maracanã.

At 40 minutes into the second half, Neymar was substituted for Benjamín Rollheiser. He left the field complaining and showed his frustration by kicking a cup of water near the bench—the liquid even splashed on some substitutes.

Afterwards, Neymar greeted his teammates on the bench and, clearly dissatisfied, left the bench to head to the Maracanã locker room. After the number 10’s departure, Santos reacted and managed to score two goals. This season, the star has played only 23 matches, with six goals and three assists.

Photo: Raul Baretta / Santos FC.

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