Neymar's Fury Over Santos Pitch After Injury

Neymar left Vila Belmiro limping – and fuming.

The Brazilian star suffered a thigh injury in Santos’ Copa do Brasil elimination against Palmeiras and then launched a blistering attack on the state of his home pitch, blaming those in charge of the ground for a night he described as unacceptable.

Santos drew 0-0 in the quarter-final second leg, a result that sealed their exit after a 3-0 defeat in the first leg. The scoreboard stayed blank, but the damage ran deep. Neymar hobbled off at the end of the first half with discomfort in his thigh, one of three players forced off before the break.

The forward took his anger public soon after. On Instagram, he opened with a heavy dose of sarcasm: “I would like to congratulate the person responsible for the Vila Belmiro stadium pitch.”

The tone then snapped.

“What happened yesterday was the worst pitch the club has ever seen,” he wrote. “It was full of holes because of works carried out one day before the match. Unbelievable! Alongside playing against the opponent, we were also playing against the pitch.”

The criticism did not stop there. Neymar said the surface demanded extra physical effort from the players and directly linked that to the spate of injuries.

“And to make matters worse, we had to make a greater effort because of its dreadful condition. No wonder 3 players were injured in the first half. Well done indeed... very poor work!”

On his own situation, he tried to strike a more controlled note, but the frustration still hung in the air.

“Unfortunately, I felt discomfort in my thigh. I will undergo tests, and I hope it is not serious. We will keep our morale up and focus on what is coming.”

If Neymar expected the storm to blow over, Palmeiras made sure it did not.

The São Paulo club fired back with a pointed statement of their own, turning his complaint into an opportunity for a thinly veiled dig. They praised the condition of their own pitch, stressing that it receives daily maintenance and is kept in what they called perfect condition.

Palmeiras went further, saying that the quality of their surface helps players feel safer and highlighting that, over the past five years, they are the Brazilian top-flight club least affected by injuries. It was a statistic chosen with purpose, a direct counter to the Santos star’s suggestion that a poor pitch had put players at risk.

A night that began as a desperate attempt at a Copa do Brasil comeback ended with a war of words over grass, holes and responsibility – and with Neymar waiting on scans that will shape the next chapter of his season.