Officials' substitution error enrages Neymar during Santos home defeat

SAO PAULO (AP): What looked like a clerical error by the fourth official ended with Neymar leaving the pitch during Santos' 3-0 home defeat to Coritiba in Brazil's domestic league on Sunday — a match billed as one of his final opportunities to sway selection ahead of today's World Cup squad announcement.

At 34, Neymar has spent more than a year working back from an anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered in October 2023, aiming to convince Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti that he still belongs among the travelling party.

The mix-up unfolded in the 65th minute. Coritiba already led 3-0, and Neymar — whose performances had picked up in recent weeks — had made little impact in a quiet outing for relegation-battling Santos.

While medical staff sprayed his right calf, the referee directed him toward the touchline so treatment could continue. Moments later, the fourth official held up the substitution board showing No. 10 — Neymar — replaced by Robinho Jr., who entered straight away.

"I knew Robinho was coming in, but I wasn't even watching it," Neymar said. "I didn't know I had been substituted, I had not seen the board. It was a very serious mistake by the officials, by the fellow who puts the numbers on the board."

Santos manager Cuca and Neymar both told the fourth official and referee Paulo Cesar Zanovelli that the change was meant for defender Gonzalo Escobar, wearing No. 31, not the star forward.

Zanovelli cautioned Neymar with a yellow card for declining to leave. The forward then took the official substitution slip to broadcast cameras at the Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo, where Escobar's squad number — not his — appeared on the paperwork.

"It is a mistake (of the fourth official) indeed. But it wasn't the reason why we lost, it would be unfair to place blame on this," Cuca told reporters afterward.

Brazil's football confederation, which runs the national league, had not issued a public statement on the episode by press time.

Ancelotti is scheduled to unveil Brazil's squad today in Rio de Janeiro.

Reports in the Brazilian press suggest Neymar's prospects for one of the 26 places have strengthened lately, with senior squad members understood to back his inclusion alongside players Ancelotti already plans to name.