Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News

Ridiculous Neymar goal shows why PSG paid $333 million for him

What does $333 million worth of footballer get you nowadays? Something pretty special, it seems.

Neymar had to wait a little longer than he would have liked to play his first home game for PSG at the Parc des Princes, but having scored on his debut for the club after the world-record transfer, expectations were high.

But not even the most optimistic PSG fan could have predicted what followed. Two goals — one of them the sort of solo effort that would be deemed impossible even in a video game — two assists and a penalty earned in a 6-2 win over Toulouse.

Neymar's was the complete performance, but the lasting memory from this game will be its eighth goal, when the Brazilian showed exactly why the French champions were prepared to fork out such an exorbitant fee.

Receiving a pass on the right side of the penalty area from compatriot Dani Alves, Neymar took two sure touches to face up to the defence, which quickly had surrounded him in numbers.

As two giant Toulouse opponents conspired to form a wall in front of him, with stopping the man a much greater priority than trying to keep up with the ball, Neymar took a series of sharp touches to move the ball between and around a sea of legs.

It broke towards the centre of the box by way of a desperate defender's lunge, and with a fourth Toulouse man closing down, Neymar prepared to spin on the ball and onto his right foot.

Or so we thought. Somehow, and in a moment of improvisational brilliance reserved for the world's very best, Neymar faked to spin, dragged the ball back across his and the bemused defender's bodies and onto his left foot.

From there the finish, and the question of whether PSG were right to throw the cash at Neymar, were never in doubt.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.