Look at any photo of the protests and counter-protests taking place in Brazilian streets and a single uniform quickly presents itself: the yellow-and-green jersey of the Brazilian national team. Protestors on both sides—whether for or against the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff—sport the soccer shirts and wave the national flag.

It’s an amazing symbol of just how central the sport is to the country’s identity. Brazilians who seemingly can’t agree on anything these days still agree to support Neymar and company at every opportunity.

And opportunity should abound this summer. With the Olympics in Rio and the special centennial tournament for the Copa America, Brazil should certainly be looking forward to some very timely uplifting stories in the upcoming sports pages.

But, as ever with Brazil these days, there are several snags in these hopeful projections. First, the team isn’t playing particularly inspiring soccer at the moment. So far this year, Brazil have managed two 2-2 draws against Uruguay and Paraguay, with a loss to Chile, wins against Peru and Venezuela, and a 1-1 draw against Argentina coming late last year. Not horrific results, by any means, but not at the stellar standards this country expects and needs.

And not good enough to make the next World Cup either. Brazil currently sit sixth in the Conmebol standings, two places and a point from a berth at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

And then there’s Neymar, who didn’t score in any of those six most recent games for country (although he wasn’t able to try against Chile or Paraguay due to suspension). Nor has he scored for club Barcelona in his last five games. From an impeccable run that had Sky Sports comparing him to Pele last year, Neymar is now getting heaped with blame for Barcelona’s struggles to keep a grip on the league title.

Perhaps in response, or more likely just as prudent business, Barca are trying to demand Neymar only play in one competition—most likely the Olympics—this summer, skipping the Copa in the United States.

Barca’s position makes a lot of sense considering how valuable Neymar is to the club, but if the Catalans won’t budge, it will be very unfortunate for Brazil, which could use a positive spell of soccer spectacle to bring a little solidarity to a country plagued not only with corruption and a poor economy, but the Zika virus as well.

After the embarrassment of the last World Cup campaign and the scandals about the cost of these massive world sporting events, a gold in the game Brazil made an art and winning the Copa that for a century of soccer Brazil helped define could go a long way towards healing wounds certain to still be raw by the summer.

Whether Rousseff goes or not, a good percentage of the country will feel cheated. In a country full of corruption, it’s easy to accuse the other side of playing unfair. Perhaps the only area this isn’t true is the soccer pitch, where all can agree in the honest wonder of a good Brazilian performance.

For the sake of Brazilian unity, Barca should let Neymar captain both teams. And Neymar will have to find his form. His country needs it.