Watch: Neymar sent off for ‘Hand of God' handball
Neymar was sent off in what could be his final appearance for boyhood club Santos after trying to emulate Argentine great Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' by punching the ball into the goal.
The Brazil international has spoken about the impact Maradona had on his career after meeting him as a child with the pair pictured together before the Argentina icon's death five years ago.
However, the inspiration taken by Neymar appeared to backfire when he appeared to intentionally cheat by scoring with his hand in Santos' Brazilian league game with Botafogo.
The match was locked at 0-0 in the 76th minute when Neymar tried to pounce on a rebound under pressure from Botafogo defender David Ricardo. In an effort to get to the ball first, the 33-year-old Brazilian threw his arm towards the ball and punched it goalwards, before being kicked in the head by Ricardo's leading foot.
Neymar collapsed to the turf in the goalmouth as team-mates celebrated, but the Botafogo players were furious and quickly protested to the referee that the goal had been scored by a handball.
After several minutes of treatment, Neymar got back to his feet and was shown a yellow card by referee Davi de Olivereira Lacerda. But having already been booked in first-half injury time, Neymar was given his marching orders as he was sent off in what could be his last outing for Santos.
With the Brazilian league now on hold until mid-July because of the international break and inaugural Club World Cup, Neymar's contract will expire at the end of June and a move to another club could be on the horizon.
He was quick to hold his hands up and take the blame for the sending off, with matters not helped by the fact that Botafogo went on to score a winner after his dismissal through Artur's 86th-minute effort.
'I made a mistake, forgive me!' he posted on social media.
'Today, if I hadn't been sent off, I'm sure we would have gotten the three points. You can count these three points against me!'
Neymar has only started the one match for Santos since returning from injury last month, having rejoined the club from Saudi Arabia side Al-Hilal - having suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, and the suspension will rule him out of Santos's match against Fortaleza on Thursday before the mid-season break kicks in.
Santos are 18th in the league having lost seven of their 11 matches.
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