An emotional Neymar said he was ashamed after his Santos side were on the end of a 6-0 home defeat by Vasco da Gama on Sunday, a humiliation that led to the sacking of their head coach, Cléber Xavier.
Philippe Coutinho was on the scoresheet twice as Vasco found the net five times in 16 second-half minutes as part of a rout that leaves Santos two points above the relegation places in Brazil’s Serie A. At full-time, home supporters turned their backs to the pitch in the latest protest against the club.
“I’m ashamed,” said Neymar, who was in tears as he left the pitch. “I’m totally disappointed with our performance. The fans have every right to protest, obviously without using violence. But if they want to curse and insult, they’re in their right. To sum up our attitude on the field, it was terrible.
“I’ve never experienced this in my life. The tears were from anger, from everything. Unfortunately, I can’t help in every way.”
Santos were relegated for the first time in their history in 2023 before returning to the top flight last season. They re-signed Neymar, who came through the ranks at the club before leaving for Barcelona in 2013, on a short-term contract in January.
“It’s a shame to play like that wearing the Santos jersey,” Neymar said. “Everyone needs to lay their head on their pillow and think about what they want to do. Because with today’s attitude, if we do what we did on the field, I don’t think we even need to show up on Wednesday.”
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It was the biggest loss of Neymar’s career and was enough for Santos to sack Xavier, who took over in April in his first job as a head coach. The 61-year-old leaves Santos with 21 points from 19 games in Brazil’s top flight, with fellow battlers for survival Vasco two points behind them.