Neymar spoke about the impact Diego Maradona had on his career after he had met him as a child, but his attempt to strive for the 'hand of God' goal of the late Argentinian Great that was taken away on Sunday when he was sent away in his last game for Santos.
With Santos and Botafogo locked up on 0-0 on their way to the last 15 minutes of their Brazilian league match, Neymar launched himself at a rebound in the penalty area and sent the ball into the net with his hand.
The Brazilian was quickly surrounded by Furious Botafogo players before the referee flashed a second yellow card to the attacker, which had cut his first start for the club since he returned from an injury last month.
Botafogo rubs salt in the wound and scored with another four minutes to win a 1-0 win.
The 33-year-old former attacker of Barcelona and Paris St Germain later apologized to his team and fans.
“I made a mistake, forgive me!” He posted on social media.
“Today, if I was not sent away, I am sure we would have received the three points. You can count these three points against me!”
Santos' Neymar during the Match Reuters / Thiago Bernardes
Neymar had returned to his boys' club Santos in January after a stint in the Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, with his contract on the Brazilian side that runs until 30 June.
The red card rules him on Thursday from the Santos match against Fortaleza, which means that he can only play for the club again if he expands his contract before the resumption of the competition in July after the club World Cup.
Santos are 18th in the competition and have lost seven of their 11 games.