<p class="bodytext">News crews from around the world may have flocked to cover Neymar's foot operation but some Brazilians would rather see the spotlight on the country's woes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">No-one here doubts the talent of the 26-year-old star of the Brazilian national team and Paris Saint-Germain. But people are sick of seeing him treated like a pampered rich kid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sport's most expensive player ever underwent surgery on Saturday at Mater Dei hospital in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The private, ultra-modern facility's tinted windows make it look more like an office building. The roof boasts a chopper pad, which Neymar used when he was released from the hospital on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Across the street is a decrepit maternity hospital called Odete Valadares. Like most state-run hospitals in Brazil, it is short on staff and all kinds of equipment, even beds. The pale pink paint is peeling. Several windows are broken.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We need more beds in the neo-natal emergency room. Sometimes patients have to sleep on cots," said Dr Klaus Morales on Facebook the day of Neymar's surgery on a broken metatarsal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Fifty metres from here in the Mater Dei hospital, Neymar will undergo surgery on a toe," Morales wrote. "Helicopters are flying over the area non-stop and the news media focus only on this, while our patients here must wait hours to be treated," said Morales.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The situation was disgraceful, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dozens of camera crews staked out spots for hours outside the Mater Dei hospital while Neymar was inside -- the fate of Brazil team at this year's World Cup finals could rest on him making a full recovery.</p>.<p class="bodytext">And Neymar's team-mates will sorely miss him when they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But no-one was covering the problems that many Brazilians face, said Priscila Silveira, a 28-year-old government employee in Belo Horizonte.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The public health system is in a state of crisis and we have major crime problems that do not get the attention they deserve in the news media," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Brazil has one of the world's highest homicide rates, and after two years of recession that is just now beginning to ease, the jobless rate is almost 12 percent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For us it is hard to see a public figure abroad such as Neymar while we here are suffering because of so many things, such as violence, muggings every day, a terrible public education system, besides all the problems with corruption," said Aderaldo Pulquerio, 47, a maintenance worker.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The same gripes are heard in Rio de Janeiro, where Geraldo de Oliveira, a 62-year-old taxi driver, could not disguise his anger.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is minor surgery on a toe. If that happened to the rest of us, we would not manage to be operated on or treated. But since that guy has money, he can do it," said de Oliveira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the Neymar fans who turned out Saturday at the Mater Dei hospital was a man in a wheelchair named Sanderson. He carried a sign that read: "I broke my heel and knee. I need your support and that of your medical team."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Neymar began rehab Sunday at his 10-million-dollar home on the coast near Rio.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His neighbors include celebrities and politicians accused of corruption.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This does not help his popularity, although the player caters to younger fans on social media, always with a touch of glamour and controversy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Friday, the day before his surgery, Neymar published on Instagram a photo in which he is seen giving his girlfriend Bruna Marquezine, an actress, a passionate kiss as she sits on him in a wheelchair.</p>
<p class="bodytext">News crews from around the world may have flocked to cover Neymar's foot operation but some Brazilians would rather see the spotlight on the country's woes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">No-one here doubts the talent of the 26-year-old star of the Brazilian national team and Paris Saint-Germain. But people are sick of seeing him treated like a pampered rich kid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sport's most expensive player ever underwent surgery on Saturday at Mater Dei hospital in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The private, ultra-modern facility's tinted windows make it look more like an office building. The roof boasts a chopper pad, which Neymar used when he was released from the hospital on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Across the street is a decrepit maternity hospital called Odete Valadares. Like most state-run hospitals in Brazil, it is short on staff and all kinds of equipment, even beds. The pale pink paint is peeling. Several windows are broken.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We need more beds in the neo-natal emergency room. Sometimes patients have to sleep on cots," said Dr Klaus Morales on Facebook the day of Neymar's surgery on a broken metatarsal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Fifty metres from here in the Mater Dei hospital, Neymar will undergo surgery on a toe," Morales wrote. "Helicopters are flying over the area non-stop and the news media focus only on this, while our patients here must wait hours to be treated," said Morales.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The situation was disgraceful, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dozens of camera crews staked out spots for hours outside the Mater Dei hospital while Neymar was inside -- the fate of Brazil team at this year's World Cup finals could rest on him making a full recovery.</p>.<p class="bodytext">And Neymar's team-mates will sorely miss him when they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But no-one was covering the problems that many Brazilians face, said Priscila Silveira, a 28-year-old government employee in Belo Horizonte.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The public health system is in a state of crisis and we have major crime problems that do not get the attention they deserve in the news media," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Brazil has one of the world's highest homicide rates, and after two years of recession that is just now beginning to ease, the jobless rate is almost 12 percent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For us it is hard to see a public figure abroad such as Neymar while we here are suffering because of so many things, such as violence, muggings every day, a terrible public education system, besides all the problems with corruption," said Aderaldo Pulquerio, 47, a maintenance worker.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The same gripes are heard in Rio de Janeiro, where Geraldo de Oliveira, a 62-year-old taxi driver, could not disguise his anger.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is minor surgery on a toe. If that happened to the rest of us, we would not manage to be operated on or treated. But since that guy has money, he can do it," said de Oliveira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the Neymar fans who turned out Saturday at the Mater Dei hospital was a man in a wheelchair named Sanderson. He carried a sign that read: "I broke my heel and knee. I need your support and that of your medical team."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Neymar began rehab Sunday at his 10-million-dollar home on the coast near Rio.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His neighbors include celebrities and politicians accused of corruption.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This does not help his popularity, although the player caters to younger fans on social media, always with a touch of glamour and controversy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Friday, the day before his surgery, Neymar published on Instagram a photo in which he is seen giving his girlfriend Bruna Marquezine, an actress, a passionate kiss as she sits on him in a wheelchair.</p>