An emotional Neymar said he was ashamed after his Santos side suffered a 6-0 home defeat by Vasco da Gama on Sunday, a result that led to the sacking of head coach Cléber Xavier. Philippe Coutinho scored twice as Vasco netted five times in 16 second-half minutes, leaving Santos two points above the relegation zone in Brazil's Serie A. At full-time, home fans turned their backs to the pitch in protest.
“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,” added the 33-year-old, who returned to Santos on a short-term contract in January after coming through the club's academy before leaving for Barcelona in 2013.
Santos were relegated for the first time in their history in 2023 before returning to the top flight last season. “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.”
The 6-0 loss was the biggest of Neymar's career and prompted Santos to sack Xavier, who took over in April in his first head coach role. The 61-year-old leaves Santos with 21 points from 19 games, with Vasco two points behind them in the battle against relegation.
