Football legend Marco van Basten has described Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar as an “unpleasant person on the pitch”.
The Brazilian star was involved in controversial moments during a bad-tempered Ligue 1 clash against Reims on Saturday night, in which the French champions were held to a scoreless draw. Sergio Ramos was sent-off in the first half, with several flare ups between players during the game.
Neymar came on as a second half substitute and was at the heart of late drama, with the two sets of players involved in altercations following an off the ball incident, before Neymar was booked for a cynical foul to interrupt a Reims counter-attack late on.
It was a frustrating night for Les Parisiens, who lost their composure on multiple occasions throughout the game – the red card for Ramos came due to dissent while there were several moments late on, including Neymar’s yellow and a booking for Kylian Mbappe for a cynical challenge, which illustrated their discontent.
Van Basten was speaking after the game and took aim at Neymar’s action, claiming that he fouled players in one period of play and then immediately will portray himself as a victim in the next phase, which he described as being “unpleasant”.
The former Dutch forward said: "Neymar is a real cry baby, he is constantly provoking players. In one second, he will foul someone and the next second he is playing the victim again. There is no permission to touch him. I would applaud it if someone actually dealt with him (with a challenge). He is an unpleasant person on the pitch."
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Van Basten is one of the most iconic attacking players of all time due to his spells with Ajax and Milan across the 1980s and early 1990s. The Dutchman scored over 300 goals across his senior career but his playing days were cut short by injury.
He played his last match in 1993, at the of age 28, due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later. Despite his relatively limited time on the pitch, he enjoyed plenty of successes as he won seven trophies at Ajax and 11 competitions with Milan, including three Serie A titles and three European Cups.
Van Basten’s glorious career also extended to the Dutch national team, whom he helped to the 1988 European Championships title – the nation’s only ever major piece of silverware. He would go on to manage the national team between 2004 and 2007, before further managerial stints at Ajax, Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar.
