Neymar responded to taunts from rival fans in perfect fashion by scoring a remarkable ‘Olimpico’ goal for Santos in their 3-0 win over Internacional de Limeira. The Brazilian forward, who recently returned to his boyhood club, explained that the home crowd had been “provoking” him before he let his football do the talking.
In the eighth minute, Neymar was jeered by the crowd as he lined up to take a corner. He initially silenced them by assisting team-mate Tiquinho to open the scoring. However, the boos continued when Neymar took another corner in the 26th minute. This time, the 33-year-old made a statement by sending the ball directly over the goalkeeper and into the far post, doubling Santos’ lead with an incredible goal.
“I went to take the corner, they provoked me,” Neymar said after the match. “I asked them to sing louder, I struck the ball and got an assist. Then, the second time I went there, they did it again, so I thought to myself: ‘Now I’m the one who’s going to score the goal.’ I hit a great shot and managed to score my first Olimpico goal.”
Santos added a third goal before halftime, another Neymar corner leading to a header from Tiquinho. Since rejoining Santos in January after a challenging 18-month stint with Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Neymar has scored twice and provided three assists in six Campeonato Paulista matches.
After the match, Neymar shared his joy on social media: “My biggest joy is to play football.”
A Gol Olimpico (Olimpico goal) is a goal scored directly from a corner kick, where the ball goes straight into the net without touching another player along the way.
The term originated in South America, specifically in Argentina. The first known Gol Olimpico was scored by Cesareo Onzari for Argentina in a friendly match against Uruguay on October 2, 1924. At the time, corner goals weren’t allowed, but a change in the laws earlier that year allowed for such goals to be recognized. Onzari took full advantage, scoring directly from the corner. The goal was named “Olimpico” because it came against Uruguay, who had won the Olympic football title in Paris earlier that year.
In recent seasons, we’ve seen this type of goal appear in top leagues. For example, Matheus Cunha scored from a corner against Manchester United in the Premier League, a week after Son Heung-min did the same in the Carabao Cup. In the UEFA Champions League, Christian Pulisic scored an Olimpico goal for AC Milan against Club Brugge in a 3-0 win.