Neymar reveals how his penalty kick technique helped Messi win the World Cup.
Neymar Jr. has made a surprising revelation, claiming that his unique penalty technique played a role in Lionel Messi’s success during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
After years of heartbreak — including the painful 2014 final loss to Germany — Messi finally achieved his dream in 2022, leading Argentina to their third World Cup title. He was instrumental throughout the tournament and was deservedly awarded the Golden Ball as the best player.
Argentina’s journey to glory saw them win five penalties across the tournament — in matches against Saudi Arabia and Poland in the group stage, followed by crucial knockout clashes against the Netherlands, Croatia, and France. Messi stepped up for most of them, converting all but one. His only miss came against Poland, where goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny pulled off a brilliant save. Still, Messi’s five penalty attempts marked the highest by any player in a single World Cup edition.
But according to Neymar, there’s more to the story behind those successful spot-kicks. Speaking in an interview with Podpah, he shared how Messi became curious about his penalty-taking style during training.
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“We were practicing penalties, and he was like, ‘How can you hit it like that?’ I looked at him and said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re Messi. If I can hit it like that, you can too. You train, master it.’ Then he started laughing and said, ‘I’ll try too,’ then he started,” he said.
Neymar went on to suggest that Messi’s effectiveness from the spot in Qatar was influenced by that very technique. Interestingly, he pointed out that Messi’s only miss came when he didn’t follow that approach.
“In the World Cup, for example, he scored several penalty goals like that. The only one he didn’t hit while looking at the goalkeeper, he missed,” he added.
