While Pedro Neto and Neymar go about their business in different parts of the globe, they find one thing in common as far as the online world is concerned.
Both men have come into the spotlight for their heights, despite being far from the shortest men in the footballing ecosystem.
Scrutiny over Neto arrived after he was pictured with a few of his so far outcast Chelsea teammates in training.
The 26-year-old was stood in the center, with goalkeepers Mike Penders and Gabriel Slonina to his right. On Neto’s other side stood Mikhailo Mudryk, followed by Geovany Quenda and Danny Welbeck.
While Mudryk is returning from a long suspension and Welbeck is a recent acquisition, none of the other three have played a competitive game for Chelsea.
Unfortunately for Neto, that did not change the fact that he was the shortest man in the line-up. That is despite the Portuguese being 172 cm tall, which approximately translates to 5 feet 9 inches.
That puts him shoulder-to-shoulder with both Mudryk and Quenda, with official sources placing them all within a couple of centimetres of each other. However, the trio were comfortably out of the reach of Welbeck, with the striker standing above 6 feet at an impressive 185 cm.
But what made the situation particularly worse for Neto were the two gargantuans on his other side. Slonina’s height is a mammoth 6 feet 4 inches, putting him at 193 cm.
Yet, even the American was dwarfed by Penders’ towering 200 cm frame, his height of 6 foot 7 inches making him one of the tallest active footballers.
At least Neto was embarrassed by a bunch of adults, unlike Neymar in Sao Paulo.
The 34-year-old was recently present at an annual charity function in the city that raises money for privileged children. He was joined by a host of celebrities, including compatriot mixed martial arts phenom Alex Pereira.
Photos soon surfaced of Neymar being flanked by Pereira’s two sons, Alessandro and Lohan, all of them dressed in black from head to toe.
The two 15-year-olds are aspiring UFC fighters themselves. It is no surprise given their genetic advantage as Pereira’s son, whose massive frame stands at a height of 6 foot 4 inches.
So when Neymar stood in between them, he looked like a minion in comparison, despite wearing what seems like high sole shoes. The Brazilian himself has a decent height of 175 cm, putting him at 5 feet 9 inches. Yet, he was no match to Alessandro and Lohan who both seemed close to or above 6 feet in height.
Thankfully, excelling at football takes much more than height. Or at least that is what Neto and Neymar must tell themselves after all the incessant trolling they have been receiving because of these two viral pictures.
Nevertheless, Neto will be looking for a step up in the year to come with just five goals in 34 appearances for Chelsea. Neymar, on the other hand, finds himself 15th in the league with Santos and aims to help his team avoid relegation before his contract runs out in December.
