Neymar in tears and Santos coach gets sack after humiliating 6-0 home defeat to Vasco
Neymar was consoled on the field by a member of Santos' backroom staff after a game that saw Vasco's Philippe Coutinho score twice.
The 33-year-old Neymar, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star, returned to his boyhood club in January after an underwhelming spell in Saudi Arabia and signed a contract extension in June keeping him at Santos until the end of the year.
When football wants to finish you, it does so brutally… Neymar left the pitch in tears after a 6-0 defeat to Vasco da Gama, marking the biggest loss of his career. 💔 pic.twitter.com/LcwMz0M12y
— 11.19s (@Seny_jr) August 17, 2025
The 61-year-old Brazilian coach Xavier, who took charge in April after serving as an assistant manager at clubs such as Palmeiras and Flamengo, departs with Santos sitting in 15th place with 21 points from 19 matches.
The bottom four teams in the 20-club league are relegated to Serie B at the end of the season.
'Santos Futebol Clube announces the departure of coach Cleber Xavier. The club thanks the coach for his services and wishes him luck in his future career,' Santos said in a statement posted on social media.
Xavier's departure marks another turbulent chapter for Santos, who won promotion back to the Brazilian top flight last November after spending a year in Serie B following their first-ever relegation.
Once synonymous with greatness during the golden era led by the late Brazilian icon Pele, Santos now face an uphill battle to maintain their top-flight status.
Pele helped Santos dominate Brazilian football in the 1950s and 1960s, when the coastal city side claimed 10 state and six national league titles.
Santos have since produced a host of elite talent such as Neymar, former AC Milan forward Robinho and Real Madrid winger Rodrygo.
Neymar, who returned to Santos in January after a stint with Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal did not hold back in his criticism of the team's performance following their defeat to Vasco.
'You have to explain our attitude on the field. Which, to sum it all up, was terrible,' Neymar told Brazilian media.
'It's a shame to play like that wearing the Santos jersey. I think everyone today needs to lay their head on their pillow, go home, and think about what they want to do.
'Because with today's attitude, if we have to do what we did today on the field, I don't think we even need to show up on Wednesday.'
Santos next visit fourth-placed Bahia on August 24.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
18 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland international believes Burnley can respond from Tottenham setback
Burnley captain Josh Cullen is confident the Clarets can bounce back from their 'tricky moment' against Tottenham. The Republic of Ireland midfielder was on the receiving end of a 3-0 away drubbing on Saturday. And Cullen is hoping Burnley can regroup from that opening weekend setback and react positively when they host fellow promoted side Sunderland this Saturday. Burnley were 1-0 down at the Tottenham Stadium after 10 minutes when Richarlison opened the scoring before the Brazilian then doubled his tally in the 60th minute. Brennan Johnson swiftly sealed the points six minutes later, to leave the Clarets on the backfoot just one game into a season where they are favourites to go back down. But Cullen said: 'We know we have good mentality as a group. We know we've got that togetherness to stick together and bounce back in tricky moments. 'To go 1-0 down was disappointing but we reacted well. At the end of the day, we've been beaten by a bit of brilliance really to make it 2-0. 'We know there's areas we need to improve, and we can't give players in this league the sort of space we gave them today, for the goals. But there's positives to take and we'll go into this week full of belief and hopefully get our first three points of the season. 'It's a good game to look forward to, back home, and hopefully we can put on a positive performance, keep on making improvements and go again.' But Cullen isn't too down about Saturday's defeat and feels the wake-up call will serve Burnley well. In an interview on the club website, the Ireland international added: 'We've learnt what the Premier League is about. We just need to clean up in both boxes and I think we'll be okay.'
Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Rasmus Hojlund offered an unexpected option in the Premier League for Manchester United exit
The Brazilian forward has been expected to go to Atalanta in a £40m deal, although it is understood that a move to Serie A ran into difficulties by Sunday evening. Fulham have nevertheless explored alternatives, should the move be reignited, with Hojlund considered as an option to replace the Brazilian's firepower. The 24-year-old struck a 97th-minute equaliser for Marco Silva's side at the Amex to deny Brighton all three points and secure a draw to kick-start their Premier League campaign. The former Flamengo forward has scored 17 Premier League goals in his last two campaigns for Fulham, hitting double figures in all competitions, with a career-high of 11 goals last term. United want to sell the Dane after signing Benjamin Sesko in an €80m (£73.7m) deal. Hojlund's preference is to stay, but he is naturally prepared to consider prospective offers. United want £40m for the 22-year-old, although it is felt they would rather do a deal abroad. Hojlund was left out of the squad that lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday at Old Trafford. The Dane was left on the bench for the final pre-season friendly against Fiorentina on 9 August, despite Sesko not registering in time to feature against the Italians. Hojlund cost £72m two years ago from Atalanta and has scored 14 goals in 62 league games since returning nine goals in 32 Series A matches.
The Irish Sun
18 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Man Utd's biggest flop forwards revealed including ex-Real Madrid star who cost £20MILLION per goal and current star
MANCHESTER UNITED's biggest flop forwards have been revealed as the club has forked out MILLIONS for little in return. The club have spent a fortune trying to replace Robin van Persie who was the last forward to score more than 20 goals in a season. 9 Robin van Persie is the last striker to score 20 goals in a Prem season for Manchester United Credit: AFP 9 Angel di Maria's three Premier League goals did not come cheap Credit: PA:Empics Sport 9 Rasmus Hojlund could be on his way out of United Credit: Getty 9 Joshua Zirkzee has some time to improve his record for the club Credit: Getty Ruben Amorim has overseen an outlay of £207.5MLLION on the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko this summer. The hope will be that the trio can form a dynamic attack that can fire the United back up the Premier League table. The three will not have to do a lot to make a noticeable improvement after the failures of the club's previous striker options. Some of the club's previous forwards rarely even scored in a poor reflection of their transfer fees. READ MORE ON FOOTBALL NOT KEANE Roy Keane launches 'garlic bread' rant at awkward moment between Guehi & Glasner Angel Di Maria was signed from Real Madrid in 2014 as a superstar for £60m. The Argentine would only spend one season in Manchester before being sold on to Paris Saint-Germain. He got off to a wonderful start with a glorious lob against Leicester City. However, he was only able to follow up that goal with two more in the Premier League, with each strike costing £20MILLION. SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN Current forward Joshua Zirkzee is the next player to see each of his goals not come cheap. The Dutchman arrived last summer from Bologna for £37m but only managed three goals in the league. He's taking lessons from Mikel Arteta' joke fans as Ruben Amorim makes VERY bold claim after Man Utd's loss to Arsenal Zirkee's goals have cost £12.3m each but he does have time to improve that record. Rasmus Hojlund, on the other hand, appears to be on his way out of the club this summer with a move to AC Milan on the cards. The former Atalanta star has scored 14 league goals since his move in 2023 for £72m. Each one has cost United £5.1m, and he will be hoping to regain his form this season, whether it is at Old Trafford or not. 9 9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed for United in 2016 Credit: REUTERS 9 Edinson Cavani scored 12 goals after his free transfer to Old Trafford Credit: Getty 9 Cristiano Ronaldo provided some value on his return Credit: PA Outcast Jadon Sancho has also proved to be a costly mistake, with each of his nine league goals being worth £8.1m. Although this is not as bad when compared to Brazilian winger Antony. The former Ajax man cost a staggering £85m when he was reunited with Erik ten Hag. He was unable to live up to the hype and has only scored five time in the Premier League. Each goal has cost United £17m, with the club now working to ship him out before the end of the transfer window. Some forwards have proven to be less damaging to the finances with their rate of goals. Anthony Martial netted 63 times for United during his nine-year stay in Manchester. He cost the club £58m from AS Monaco, with each of his league goals costing £900,000 each. 9 United will be hoping for better from their new crop of forwards Credit: Getty Man Utd's transfer deals IN Bryan Mbeumo - from Brentford - £71m Matheus Cunha - from Wolves - £62.5m Diego Leon - from Cerro Porteno - £7m Benjamin Sesko - from RB Leipzig - £74m TOTAL - £214.5m OUT Victor Lindelof - released Christian Eriksen - released TOTAL - £0m MAN UTD TRANSFER NEWS LIVE Cristiano Ronaldo also performed well on his £20m return to the club as he scored 19 times. But the move did turn sour as his contract was terminated following his spat with Ten Hag and explosive interview with Piers Morgan. United have had success shopping in the free agency with the pair of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani. The duo netted 29 between the two of them for much better value than many of their counterparts. Join SUN CLUB for the Man Utd Files every Thursday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from Old Trafford
