This was his serious phase. The playful blonde was gone. In its place was a focused, angular assassin’s cut. On April 2nd, he scored a stunning solo goal against Real Madrid in El Clásico , running half the pitch, weaving past Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal, before slotting the ball past Keylor Navas. As he celebrated, he pulled the hair tie out and let the dark locks fall over his face. The image was iconic: Neymar as the warrior-poet, soft hair hiding a killer instinct.
As 2016 limped to its end, Neymar returned to a variation of his roots. The golden fringe was shaved off. The sides were faded to a zero. The top was a natural, jet-black, short crop. It was almost… normal. Almost boring. The football world breathed a collective sigh of relief. He’s finally settling down, they thought. He’s maturing. neymar hairstyle 2016
But that was the genius of Neymar. The quiet before the storm. Because as December turned into January 2017, we would later learn that the simple black hair was just camouflage. Behind the scenes, his dissatisfaction with playing in Messi’s shadow was growing. The man who changed his hair as easily as his socks was about to make the biggest change of his career: the move to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record €222 million. This was his serious phase
However, tragedy loomed. During the Copa América group stage match against Uruguay, Neymar was brilliant—his red hair a beacon in the sea of green and yellow. But then came the foul. A brutal tackle from behind. He crumpled. The diagnosis was swift and cruel: a fractured vertebra. His tournament was over. Brazil was eliminated. The red hair, once a symbol of fiery rebirth, now looked like a wound. As he flew back to Brazil for rehabilitation, he sat in first class, hoodie up, the red already fading to a dull pink. It was the color of a dying sunset. On April 2nd, he scored a stunning solo