Neymar’s family, Flavio Bolsonaro cheer on his possible World Cup bow

SAO PAULO: Brazil’s injury-plagued football star Neymar was cheered on by loved ones and conservative presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro on Wednesday, hours ahead of his possible first appearance at this World Cup.

Neymar, 34, has been named as a substitute for Brazil’s third and final fixture of the group stage after recovering from a calf muscle injury.

The match against Scotland in Miami will be his first for Brazil since 2023.

“The time has come,” the forward’s father, Neymar Santos, posted on Instagram.

The player’s mother, Nadine Goncalves, shared a video of him recounting advice his father had given him as a child: “Son, run, dedicate yourself, play as if it were the last match of your life”.

Neymar, Brazil’s all-time top goal scorer with 79 goals, missed the first two games of the tournament.

A shaky Brazil drew 1-1 with Morocco and then dominated Haiti 3-0.

Politics also seeped into Neymar’s return on the pitch. The player’s public backing of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has contributed to his polarizing reputation at home.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of the former leader, released an AI-generated video in which he “rescues” Neymar in a military plane decked out in the Brazilian colors and delivers him to the stadium to save the team.

The video makes reference to a joke by his election rival, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who quipped Friday that Neymar was the only player who was “working remotely” during the World Cup.