To call Neymar a Brazilian national hero would be an understatement.
The golden boy of the Seleção could hardly be more popular, having led his country to the Olympic gold which had eluded them for more than half a century.
So when Brazil held an open training session for the first time since that Olympic triumph at the Maracana, you might have expected security to be a little tighter than usual so as to avoid overzealous supporters rushing to intercept their idol.
Instead we got, well, the opposite, with several pitch invaders doing what Germany failed to do in Rio and bringing the Barcelona man to the ground.
It is by no means the first time Neymar has been the target of a pitch invasion.
Two years ago he picked up a young fan who made it onto the field during Brazil’s friendly against South Africa in Johannesburg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cjVWHMCGLY
But things got a little more out-of-control after Barcelona’s game against Granada, where the forward was caught in the mouth during the celebrations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm8p5fe09bk
Brazil’s next game takes place in Manaus on Tuesday, with Colombia the visitors.
The 2014 World Cup hosts are currently outside the automatic qualification places for 2018’s tournament in Russia, with 12 points from seven games – one point fewer than their upcoming opponents.
