In recent years, Brazil’s top flight has attracted major international stars, raising the league’s global profile. Among the most notable are Neymar Jr., who returned to Santos following a disappointing stint with Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, and Memphis Depay, who joined Corinthians from Atletico Madrid.
But these stars haven’t just brought talent and experience to the league — they’ve also raised expectations about the professional standards necessary to support high-level soccer in Brazil. And on that front, both forwards voiced pointed criticism this week.
“Artificial grass kills the game,” Memphis Depay wrote on his official X account. “Brazil when you going to listen to the players?” The post quickly gained traction, racking up over 45,000 likes and 4,600 reposts in just over 24 hours.
The all-time leading scorer for the Netherlands national team wasn’t the only one to speak up. Neymar jumped into the conversation, replying directly to the post with a short but clear statement: “I agree.” That response alone received over 11,000 likes.
It’s not the first time Neymar has called out Brazil’s pitches
Neymar played his first match in his new stint with Santos on February 5 of this year, and it took less than two weeks for him to publicly express frustration with the quality of several pitches in Brazil.
“It’s concerning the direction Brazilian soccer is heading. It’s absurd that we have to talk about synthetic turf in our stadiums,” Neymar said in a joint statement alongside other Serie A stars like Thiago Silva and Philippe Coutinho. “Objectively, with the size and global stature of our soccer, that shouldn’t even be an option.” The message was accompanied by an image that read: “Soccer is natural, not synthetic.”
The rise of synthetic turf in Brazil
The shift from natural grass to synthetic turf has been gaining momentum in Brazil over the past few years. One of the first clubs to make the switch was Palmeiras, which installed artificial turf at Allianz Parque in 2020 — and has kept it ever since.
Other clubs have followed suit. Botafogo’s Estadio Nilton Santos also now uses synthetic grass, as does Athletico Paranaense’s Arena da Baixada. Late last year, Atletico Mineiro announced plans to renovate Arena MRV, including a switch to artificial turf.