Sports
Neymar’s World Cup hopes hit new low at Santos as Estêvão’s star rises
Wind the film back to the end of January. Estêvão, with four brief substitute appearances under his belt, was a promise and a possibility for Brazil‘s 2026 World Cup squad. Neymar, meanwhile, was a certainty. The one-time boy prince was returning to Santos, where the story started, and his old club was going to give him a platform to round off the narrative with one final attempt at World Cup glory.
Fast forward 10 months, and things have turned out very differently. Estêvão is going from strength to strength and was given his first Brazil start in Carlo Ancelotti’s debut match in charge. He is making an extreme case to be an integral part of the World Cup team, helping himself to five goals between September and November.
And the wonder strike — off his weak foot — in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League merely reinforces the point that Chelsea would seem to have signed the most brilliant talent to come out of Brazil since … Neymar.
– Source: Neymar wants to play on despite pain
– Estêvão has Chelsea looking deserving ‘world champions’ tag
– Can Vinícius Júnior find a spark to his season by playing for Brazil?
The original wonderkid, meanwhile, has had a 2025 to forget, rounded off by the news on Tuesday that a knee injury may well keep him out of the last three games of the season. With Santos in the relegation zone, that is bad news for him and bad news for the club.
The expectations were probably always too high for a couple of reasons.
First, there is the extraordinary, nigh on miraculous, history of Santos. In the late 1950s and through the early 1960s, Pelé and his wonderful supporting cast formed arguably the greatest team in the world, and certainly the most easy on the eye. Excellent youth development brought back the glory years in the 21st century, and lightning appeared to have struck twice when a baby-faced Neymar emerged and led them to the Copa Libertadores in 2011.
But this history can be something of a burden for a club representing a city of under half a million, tiny by the standards of Brazil’s big clubs. As financial gaps have opened up, it has become harder for Santos to compete. In 2023, the first season since Pelé’s passing, they suffered their first-ever relegation to the second division. They bounced straight back, and the hope was that the return of Neymar would add plenty more positive momentum. Some saw them as possible title contenders, but they were aiming too high.
This is especially true since Neymar was still trying to shake off the effects of a serious knee injury he suffered while playing for Brazil in October 2023. He was free to go back to Brazil after Jorge Jesus, his coach at Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, refused to register him for the club’s league campaign. He simply was not fit enough, said the coach.
At the beginning of 2025, Neymar was an unknown quantity as a footballer. And if that was true at the end of January, it remains the case in late November. Judging him as a player still seems harsh; he has never been able to put together a sequence of games that would enable him to get up to full match fitness.
After such a long layoff, muscular problems were to be expected, and he broke down in April after a couple of early rounds of the Brazilian Serie A.
There were two more games before the pause for the Club World Cup, and then a two-month, nine-game sequence when the action resumed in July. He was then out for another six weeks before returning early this month, but then, worryingly, given the original problem, he went down with a knee injury that threatens to end his season.
But when has he played? In those 17 rounds (of 35 played so far) in which he has been on the field, how has he done? Neymar has not lost the ability to see and to execute a pass that opens up the field and his proficiency as a striker of a dead ball remains. But the standout feature of peak Neymar was his skill as a dribbler, his talent to change direction and improvise solutions at top pace.
This has not been seen, as he has found it hard to get away from his marker. And without this, it has not been easy for Santos’ coaches to find a way to make him useful. A low point was the 6-0 defeat to Vasco da Gama in August. The lesson — and it cost coach Cleber Xavier his job — was that it was not feasible to play Neymar, a center forward and two wingers. With no balance between attack and defence, Vasco carved Santos to pieces.
The solution found by the new boss, Juan Pablo Vojvoda, has been to use Neymar as a free-roaming center forward, left upfield to avoid defensive responsibilities, and also able to drop and organize the play from deep.
This arrangement has had its moments, like when he scored in the last game he played, against Mirassol. But for Brazil’s all-time top scorer, three league goals is a disappointing return and very frustrating.
This has been a keynote of Neymar’s return, the sense of frustration that frequently comes close to boiling over.
1:38
What makes Estêvão a special player for Chelsea?
Stewart Robson and Craig Burley discuss Estêvão’s performance vs. Barcelona and his contribution in Chelsea’s attack.
It might have been hoped that the time away from the pitch would have focused his mind on ways that he needed to change to reach his immense potential. Instead, he seems at war with everyone. With the referee (of course), with his opponents, and, earlier this month, with his own teammates.
Against Flamengo, he strutted around the Maracanã pitch, blaming everyone and anyone for the opposition’s 3-0 lead. He threw a mini-fit when he was substituted — and it came across as poetic justice — when, in his absence, Santos pulled two goals back.
This was extremely disappointing from a player who, whatever the public perception, has usually been very popular in the various dressing rooms he has been a part of. But now, if he really is ruled out of the last three games of the season, he needs his teammates to come to his rescue.
What happens if Santos are relegated? It is far from clear that the club could afford to keep Neymar, as there are already grumblings about his cost and benefit. But there is surely no way that he could play his way back into the Brazil squad from the second division. He would presumably be forced to hurriedly fix himself up with another club.
The career of Neymar has been full of the kind of twists and turns that he once performed in his exhilarating dribbles. Another one is called for now if he is not to spend the 2026 World Cup on the sidelines, watching the twists and turns of Estêvão.
Coventry City will return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years after securing their promotion from the Championship with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Friday.
A founding member of Premier League in 1992-93, Coventry have not been back since relegation in 2000-01.
– How does manager Lampard compare to others from England’s ‘Golden Generation’?
The West Midlands side will now rejoin the elite after a stunning campaign in the second tier under manager Frank Lampard.
Lampard’s side only needed a point from Friday’s match at Ewood Park to seal promotion but looked like being denied after Ryoya Morishita gave Blackburn the lead, before Bobby Thomas rose highest to head in from a free kick in the 84th minute.
The goal and the final whistle minutes later prompted wild celebrations from the more than 7,000 travelling Coventry supporters packed in to the away end in Lancashire.
The Sky Blues’ lowest ebb came when they dropped into the fourth-tier League Two in 2017 but they have fought their way back and, after losing to Luton in the playoff final in 2023, have stormed the Championship under Lampard this season to secure their Premier League return with three matches to spare.
They will have to wait to secure the title, with second-placed Ipswich now 11 points behind with five matches to play.
Friday’s result also means a return to the Premier League for Lampard. The former England international, who won three Premier League titles as a player with Chelsea, spent 18 months as manager at Stamford Bridge followed by a year in charge of Everton.
He last coached in the top flight during nine games as Chelsea interim manager at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Coventry spent 34 straight years in England’s top division and garnered a reputation for a series of dramatic escapes from Premier League relegation before finally succumbing to the drop in 2001. The club won their only major trophy with the FA Cup in 1987.
PA contributed to this report.
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LAS VEGAS – WWE star Danhausen has been an eccentric delight since he joined the company and made his debut at the Elimination Chamber back in February.
Danhausen has the knack for “cursing” his WWE opponents. Stars like Dominik Mysterio, Kit Wilson and The Miz have all felt the effects of Danhausen’s abilities, and it seems like the New York Mets are also suffering.
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Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz, a long-suffering Mets fan, told Danhausen earlier this week on social media that if he could lift the “curse” on the Mets, he would “do everything in my power to get his face on the side of a (WWE production) truck.”
Danhausen said that Gewirtz had a deal and wanted to have his face on the truck immediately. However, it appears that deal has not come to fruition.
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza stands for the Star-Spangled Banner before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago on April 17, 2026. (Erin Hooley/AP Photo)
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen told Fox News Digital on Friday morning. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Hours later, the Mets lost their ninth straight game to the Chicago Cubs 12-4.
Danhausen enters the ring during Monday Night RAW at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on April 13, 2026. (Rich Freeda/WWE)
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The Cubs dealt with the “Curse of the Billy Goat” for years before winning the World Series in 2016. It appears the Mets have to deal with the Danhausen curse, at least for now.
Meanwhile, for Danhausen, he’s set for his first WrestleMania appearance in some capacity. Reports have indicated that he will have at least one segment with John Cena at WrestleMania 42.
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The 2026 NFL Draft is less than a week away, and prospects from all over are hoping to hear their names called, especially on Thursday night in the first round.
Having the “first-round pick” tag next to your name in the NFL is a rite of passage – teams believed you were worthy enough for their top slot, hoping you can be an immediate impact player for the franchise.
But that pick also comes with high expectations – the player is expected to perform right away and do so with Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods along the way. It can be hard for those rookies, as they’re trying to get acclimated to the speed and physicality the NFL has compared to college football.
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Broadcaster Greg Olsen looks on before the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Greg Olsen, the three-time Pro Bowl tight end and FOX Sports NFL analyst, was once in that position being the 31st overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. And while he knows that each situation is different depending on the franchise the prospect lands with, the expectations are the same – fans want to see you perform.
So, how does one deal with that?
“Handle your business, be a great teammate,” Olsen told Fox News Digital, while also discussing how he’s taking his analyst duties to the next level with NFL IQ. “Earn the trust of your teammates, earn the trust of your coaches first and foremost. Because, at the end of the day, if you play well and the guys in that locker room believe in you and you continue to get opportunities, the fan support will come. As the team wins and you play well, all of that takes care of itself.”
For Olsen, he recalled thinking perhaps the New York Jets or Carolina Panthers would take him in the first round after a successful career at Miami. But, when the Jets traded up to nab first-ballot Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis, and the Panthers later selected his Hurricanes teammate, linebacker Jon Beason, he didn’t know what was happening.
That’s the beauty of the NFL Draft, though, as the Bears took him despite Olsen not really interacting with their staff during the pre-draft process.
Greg Olsen speaks on radio row prior to Super Bowl LIX at the Ernest Morial Convention Center on February 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
In today’s NFL Draft world, Olsen understands the information these prospects have is much more vast. In turn, fans have the same knowledge given the world of social media, and how reports, mock drafts and expert analysis shapes their understanding of how front offices think during this exciting time of the football season.
With that, comes a challenge Olsen knows he didn’t have to deal with as a rookie, but these first-round picks next week will have to weather that storm.
“In today’s day and age where everyone is so worried about outside opinion, they’re so worried about articles being written and social media and what’s being posted, you could lose track of, ‘Well, while you’re worried about that, you’re not taking care of home base.’ I think it’s more challenging today than 20 years ago when I came into the league, but I think that’s something guys have to hunker down and understand it’s not easy, but you control you and typically things fall into place,” Olsen said.
Olsen added it will be a “very complex, stressful day” for all those involved next week, but first-round pick or not, it’s the fulfillment of a life-long dream. That’s all that matters.
“You hear your name get called and a life-long dream, something you’re excited to embark on, became real. I got drafted by one of the premier franchises in all of football, coming off a Super Bowl appearance a couple months earlier. It was a really great place to start my NFL career,” he said.
Greg Olsen, the Chicago Bears’ first-round draft pick, talks to reporters after a summer training camp practice on July 30, 2007, at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
INSIDE THE FRONT OFFICE MIND
While Olsen enjoyed 14 years in the NFL, his next chapter of the game is providing keen analysis for FOX Sports broadcasts during the year.
To help him do that in the offseason while looking at the NFL Draft and free agency pickups by each franchise, Olsen has been using NFL IQ, the new interactive hub created by the league and AWS (Amazon Web Services), powered by Amazon Quick.
Ahead of the draft, NFL IQ transformed raw data from the NFL Combine, as well as team needs, free agency moves made and more, for this hub that provides fans access to key insights and puts them in the shoes of front office decision makers. Whether it’s the casual fan or a top analyst like Olsen, NFL IQ is an easy-to-use way to deepen football knowledge, especially at a crucial roster-building time like the draft is.
General shot of NFL IQ, the new interactive hub from the league and Amazon Web Services, powered by Amazon Quick. (NFL IQ)
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“This is the most educated fan base in NFL history, and I think that’s a good thing,” Olsen said.
“Fans actually have a way to access the exact same data, the exact same information that the teams and everyone are using for their own interest, whether it’s something casual or for people who really want to dive into the nitty gritty. I think it’s a really fun set of tools for the wide array of people who touch the NFL space. I know firsthand as a fan, and now a professional in the industry, it’s a huge part of my interaction of the game.”
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