Brazil head into their first Olympic Games as the last winners. Five years ago, La Verde-amarela won the only accolade they were missing: the Olympics gold medal. Neymar was a complete standout in that campaign, but he won’t be fightingto repeat that success at Tokyo 2020.
The PSG superstar has certainly lived one of the best moments of his career at the last Summer Olympics held at Río de Janeiro. He arrived at that competition with the challenging task of leading Brazil to their first gold medal in soccer, with their supporters closer than ever.
Prior to Río 2016, Neymar was close to succeeding with his country in London 2012 but came up short in the gold medal match. That’s why four years laterwhen he had to choose between the Olympics or Copa America, he decided to fight for the onlyhonor Brazil was missing. Far from being satisfied, Neymar also intended to participate at Tokyo 2020, but unfortunately,he won’t be able to do so.
Why is Neymar missing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Brazil?
An unforgettable moment in his career: Neymar seals Brazil’s first gold medal at Rio 2016. (Getty)
Even though he was looking forward to leading Brazil’s journey at Tokyo 2020,PSG haven’t allowed Neymar to takepart in the Olympics. The left-winger has recently taken part in 2021 Copa America and the French club wanted to have him back on time for preseason.
The Ligue 1 giants were worried that he wouldn’t have much time to rest before the club competition resumed. Besides, consideringthat he has previously performed in South America’s tournament, they thoughtNeymar would be exhausted after so many gamesin such a short span.
Therefore, Paris Saint-Germain forbid Neymar from participating once more in the Olympic Games, leaving Brazil with no other optionbut to rely on younger stars and trying to succeed without their best player at the moment.
