French Ligue 1: Neymar watches as Paris Saint-Germain defeat Amiens in opener

Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) debut was put on ice as red tape reduced him to the world’s most expensive spectator but his ineligibility proved no problem for the hosts as they beat Amiens 2-0 in their Ligue 1 opener on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Brazilian, who cost PSG a world-record doubling 222 million euros ($261.32 million) from Barcelona this week, had hoped to be making his debut but his transfer was not registered in time and he will have to wait until next week.

He still stole the limelight though as he was paraded before kickoff in front of tens of thousands of ecstatic fans who hope the striker can turn them into kings of Europe. Neymar, who was joined by the club’s CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi on the pitch an hour before kickoff, delighted his new fans with some ball skills and threw his shirt into the crowd.

He also addressed the fans, saying he wanted to win trophies for the club. Neymar, whose salary is reported to be 45 million euros, meaning he earned around 123,000 euros — before tax — for his pre-match ball juggling, watched on as PSG began the season with a relatively straightforward win over newly promoted Amiens.

Edinson Cavani …read more