Why do Britain and America despise Neymar?

Much of the fun of the World Cup is in its narrative. The redemption stories, the against-all-odds comebacks, the clashes between good and evil. Football can become a bit perfunctory when you don’t have anyone to cheer for, or, for that matter, anyone to cheer against. In that vein, the British and North American sports press didn’t take long to choose their villain for this World Cup: Brazil’s star forward Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior.

A flashy young man with tremendous skill, fancy jewelry, a model girlfriend, and a penchant for changing hairstyles as often as he changes underwear, Neymar is the most recognizable person in Brazil at the moment. However, for large parts of the English-language press, there is something about him which rubs them up the wrong way, eliciting an odd, somewhat sinister dislike from usually measured and objective sports journalists.

The common accusation leveled at Neymar is that he’s a cheat, feigning injury in order to deceive referees and win advantages. Criticizing a footballer for gamesmanship or simulation is a typically British and American pastime, speaking to their lofty and Corinthian ideals of fair play. What’s more, singling out one player for criticism for theatrics isn’t fair, because everybody does it, even the English.

In fact, a recent article from data analysis site FiveThirtyEight measured the amount of time teams at this World Cup have slowed down their actions in order to run down the clock, a form of gamesmanship called “timewasting” which is the subject of much ire from...