It is difficult to be a Brazilian footballer. It is more difficult to be a talented Brazilian footballer.After the legendary Pele fired the South American nation to three World Cup triumphs in four editions (from 1958 to 1970), playing a leading role in at least two of those, every potentially great player who wears the Selecao shirt has been asked just one existential question — can you win the World Cup?Romario in 1994 and Ronaldo in 2002 answered this emphatically, leading Brazil to its fourth and fifth titles respectively. Ronaldinho (in 2006) and Kaka (in 2006 and 2010) were put through the wringer, but could not add to the collection of World Cup trophies.King in WaitingFrom then on, the burden of resurrecting Brazil has been Neymar’s. Ever since he broke out as a prodigious 17-year-old at Santos and captured the imagination of his country, he has been Brazil’s ‘King in Waiting’.There were four trophy-filled seasons at Barcelona, and then the record €222 million move to Paris Saint-Germain that liberated him from Lionel Messi’s colossal shadow at the Catalan giant.But circumstances back in Brazil have been such that Neymar is yet to be coronated. In the time since that magical night in Japan in 2002, when Ronaldo buried the ghosts of the 1998 final loss to France by leading his side to a 2-0 win over Germany, Brazil has reached just one semifinal — at home in 2014.That was the first of Neymar’s three appearances at the quadrennial extravaganza. He played admirably until the quarterfinals but a lower-back injury ended his tournament, and he watched helplessly on television the 7-1 humiliation that eventual champion Germany dished out.In 2018, Belgium’s golden generation proved too good for Brazil as it crashed out in the quarters. In the 2022 last-eight clash versus Croatia, Neymar started and finished a brilliant move from midfield to put Brazil ahead in extra-time, only for his teammates to exhibit a severe lack of game awareness and ultimately lose on penalties.For the maverick footballer, who is now 34, the North American sojourn will in all probability be the last chance saloon — a fourth attempt at claiming the elusive title.Valiant in defeat: In the 2022 last-eight clash against Croatia, Neymar started and finished a brilliant move from midfield, but it wasn’t enough.