Santos sack coach, coddle Neymar

Last week, Santos manager Dorival Junior let someone who isn't Neymar take a penalty kick. This made perfect sense since Neymar was on a horrendous streak of missing penalties. But because Neymar is 18 and has had his ego rapidly inflated by Brazil's praise and joy for passing up an offer from Chelsea, the young footballer responded by having a tantrum on the pitch and yelling at his coach. So, Dorival banned Neymar for a match. And then a second match. And then Dorival was sacked.

From Reuters:

So, it seems a pretty safe assumption that the board did this to keep Neymar happy and not demanding a transfer to Europe. Given the pedestal Neymar is on right now, it's not surprising. Even though Dorival was been outrageously successful in his short time with the club -- already winning the Paulist state championship and Copa Brasil, and guiding Santos to sixth so far in the Brasileirao.

With this decision, it seems Neymar's golden boy popularity is taking a bit of a hit, though. On Globo, they're photoshopping Neymar as a crying baby, The Godfather, and changing the name of the club to "Neymar Futebol Clube."

Now, there are probably a few people wishing Santos sold Neymar to Chelsea, a few people thankful Chelsea didn't spend £30 million to get him, and one man unfairly out of a job.

This is what happens when you worship a teenager.

Photo: UOL