Mashrafe’s emotional message on Neymar’s departure

Brazil has exited the 2026 World Cup after losing to Norway. Although he is a supporter of Argentina, former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza is not very happy about the departure of the Seleção. Rather, he feels bad for Brazilian star Neymar.

After much discussion and criticism before the World Cup, Neymar got a place in Carlo Ancelotti's announced Brazil team. However, he had to spend most of the time on the bench throughout the tournament. He did not get a chance to play in the first two matches. He played as a late substitute in the last match of the group stage against Scotland. Then, he was not used in the last 32 match against Japan. Ancelotti also came on as a substitute in the last 16 match against Norway in the 68th minute.

Mashrafe Mortaza has strongly criticized Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti for giving such limited opportunities to a world-class footballer throughout the tournament.

Mashrafe wrote on Facebook, ‘I feel really bad for Neymar. Maybe we won’t see him on the world stage again. It’s really annoying to see Brazil’s top scorer sitting on the bench like this. If he had a little more time, maybe the story could have been different. It was really sad to see him crying at the farewell. What an amazing dribbler! What accuracy he had! I don’t think anyone could have scored a penalty more easily than him. What a great career he had. But he couldn’t even come close to that.’

The story could have been different for Brazil, who were eliminated from the World Cup. The team’s midfielder Bruno Guimaraes failed to score a goal from a spot kick in the 13th minute. In the end, Brazil had to pay the price by losing 2-1. Although Mashrafe sees the penalty miss as part of the game.

In this context, Mashrafe wrote, ‘Brazil lost despite getting two penalties. For the past four years, this penalty has become a nightmare. Penalties are part of the game, and missing them is also part of the game; you can't forget that. It's not like anyone can win the World Cup just by getting a penalty. France got two penalties in the Qatar World Cup final. Even then, they lost in the tiebreaker after missing an easy goal. Well, it doesn't matter. I feel sorry for the Brazil fans. There will be a hexa, but it didn't happen this time, but.....'

Mashrafe, considering Argentina's support group the best, said, 'We, the Argentina fans, can take mental strength from them. Because, no one knows this pain better than us. 36 years is not a big deal. I say we are the only best supporters in the world.