Neymar’s possible return to Brazil’s national team has been a talking point since the forward returned to his boyhood club Santos at the start of 2025.
After a difficult start to his second chapter with Santos, Neymar is starting to look like his old self. He bagged a brace in Santos’s most recent game to lead the club to victory and to escape the relegation zone in Brazil’s top-flight.
After the match, reporters told Neymar that members of Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil national team staff were present at the game and was asked if he felt like he did enough to impress. His response, was short but emphatic.
“I don’t need to prove anything to anyone,” Neymar said before walking away.
It’s a clear message of intent to the former Real Madrid boss. Neymar is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer and has accumulated over 400 goals throughout his career. Injuries have tormented the Brazilian in recent years and he hasn’t represented his country since Oct. 2023.
Still, to this day he remains Brazil’s leader, evidenced by the respect he commands in La Seleçao, with former Brazil manager Dorival Júnior saying earlier in the year that, “even his own teammates have highlighted the significance he [Neymar] has on the group.”
If there’s anything Neymar has to prove right now, is that he can remain fit. Yet, after battling constant injuries, the 33-year-old forward has now played 90 minutes in five straight games for the first time since Aug. 2022—the same time that transpired since his last brace at the club level.
If Neymar continues to feature regularly for Santos and maintains his current form, then it’s hard to envision Ancelotti not calling him up for La Seleçao’s September World Cup Qualifier games against Chile and Bolivia.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Neymar Delivers Emphatic Response Regarding Possible Brazil NT Return.