The 1990s was yet another golden era for the Brazilian national team. Brazil simply had multiple world-class talents at all positions.
Former winger Savio was a Brazilian international player over this time period but did not feature as much due to the multiple top attacking talents in front of him that were available for the team. He knows just how difficult it was to get a call-up in this era. Savio also feels that current Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar would have hypothetically had to deal with a similar fate in not featuring as much with Brazil for the same reason. The former Real Madrid forward spoke to ESPN Brasil (via UOL) on why Neymar likely would not have been a starter for the national team in the 1990s.
“I think Neymar would play for that national team in the 1990s, I don’t know if he would be an undisputed or absolute starter,” Savio said. “I have my doubts. There were so many talents together, so it was complicated. But he would be in the group, because of his talent, he is a distinguished player, he is extraordinary technically speaking. I do not know the absolute title holder, not least because we are talking about Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo would be in the group.”
Savio’s doubts are not a knock on Neymar’s talent. He recognizes on just how much of a world-class talent the PSG forward currently is. It is more based on preference. Out of the four players who Savio mentioned, one could make a hypothetical case that they each would be deserving of a starting nod for Brazil over Neymar.
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