Opinion | The English Prejudice Against Neymar Is Nothing But Salty Tears

Last Updated:March 29, 2026, 3:55 PM IST

Wayne Rooney’s disregard of Neymar perhaps encapsulated what a portion of deluded English fans believe to be the standard in the beautiful game.

Neymar. (AP Photo)

Hey, Overlap! What are you smoking?

English icon Wayne Rooney’s scathing remark on Brazilian superstar Neymar on the famous podcast featuring Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott can be classified as ‘Salty English Tears’.

And there seems to be not enough jars to hold them.

A section of fans of ‘English football’ think themselves entitled to rate Brazil’s all-time top scorer on basis of their imagination of if the boy wonder from São Paulo could cut it ‘on a cold night at Stoke’. Much like they initially did to another South American genius, who eventually led his side to the greatest prize on planet earth in Qatar 2022.

Now, English fans, let me mansplain this to you. The greatest prize on the planet is the FIFA World Cup – something that has been the elusive object of desire for everyone thumping the St. George for six decades now.

That’s not slander. A reminder, rather. Alas, out of sight, out of mind, eh!

While it is true that the warrior who led the English lines and hopes on the international stage has the right to walk into nearly any room and claim to be one of the greatest ever to touch a football, his evaluation of the boy from Santos couldn’t be more flawed.

And in an seemingly impossible turn of events, the disrespect got worse there on out as the panel had the audacity to chuck in names familiar on English soil in an attempt to question the Canarinho poster boy’s majesty.

Shouts of ‘Mane, Hazard, Salah’ echoed across the decorated set! All Premier League icons in every sense of the word, but don’t hold a candle to the man shouldering the hopes of the most successful nation in the history of the game. A game invented by the English, nevertheless.

The travesty of an episode perhaps encapsulated what a portion of deluded English fans believe to be the standard in the beautiful game. Incorrectly, of course.

‘Appeals for reason’ to said panel might be a lost cause considering the fact that the English, read British, are drilled to ‘stiff upper-lip it’ through the day and scrape out wins. But, more importantly, to hold all the emotions in.

Cause Cor Blimey, someone sold the idea of ‘Stoic is strength’!

With the exception of Paul Gascoine wearing his heart on his sleeve back during Italia 90, of course. That the English are moved by. For reasons unbeknownst to everyone else across the globe perhaps.

Now, how do you explain expressionism to such a crowd? Well, if Neymar couldn’t, there’s probably no hope left. No stone to turn over and find the key to unlock the apocryphon the English missed.

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