NEYMAR has finally broken the ‘curse’ of his sister’s birthday by playing for Paris Saint-Germain at the weekend – but was booed as he did so.
The Brazilian has developed a curious habit of missing matches around his younger sibling Rafaella’s March 11 birthday.
In fact, Neymar went into this year having been absent from games in seven of the last eight seasons around Rafaella’s big day.
But that was not to be this time, as he lined up against Real Madrid and Bordeaux last week.
Although the 30-year-old would endure two difficult occasions.
Against Madrid on March 9, Neymar was anonymous as his side surrendered a two-goal aggregate lead to crash out of the Champions League.
And despite going on to score against Bordeaux on March 13, the former Barcelona ace was loudly booed by his own team’s fans after their European collapse a few days earlier.
Neymar has traditionally been injured or suspended at this time of year.
In 2014 he was merely an unused substitute, although in the following two seasons he picked up suspensions around Rafaella’s birthday.
During his final year at Barcelona he was suffering from a muscular injury.
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Neymar missed the rest of his first season in Paris after fracturing a metatarsal in February 2018, also suffering a similar issue the following campaign.
In 2020 he was back in action, playing and even scoring against Dortmund in a Champions League clash on March 11.
While last year he missed a PSG Ligue 1 match due to a muscular issue.
Despite not missing any games, Neymar did post on social media to wish Rafaella a happy 26th birthday.
Accompanying a picture of the duo together, he wrote: “I love you Happy birthday sis @rafaella”
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