“I feel good, I knew that I would now,” declared Neymar to his 189 million Instagram followers on the eve of this last-16 victory over South Korea, alongside images of him taking part in a Brazil training session. That’s a James Brown lyric, in case you hadn’t noticed, and it was a more than appropriate reference. We are, after all, talking about one of the hardest working men in showbusiness – the most heavily-sponsored footballer in the world no less, as evidenced by his appearance on every billboard in Doha that does not already bear the image of David Beckham.
But then this is also a natural born performer who, at his best, through his various thrusts, swerves and flourishes, is capable of leaving his audience in raptures. And not unlike the godfather of soul, just as his act is reaching a crescendo, as the crowd is approaching a point of near evangelical adulation, he has been known to suddenly collapse to the ground, thrash about in a state of pain, exhaustion and distress, and then exit stage left as a frail, broken man with the help of a handler. The parallels do not end there, either. Did you know James Brown campaigned for Richard Nixon?
