Neymar picks the player he thinks will lead the Brazilian national team for Copa America.
Neymar Jr. poses in front of a Puma Tesla Cybertruck and Vinicius shows off the Brazil retro jersey. (Source: Neymar Jr. X, Madrid Zone X)
Today, the Brazilian national team is set to play their first match for Copa America against Costa Rica at the SoFi Stadium. Brazil has more pressure to deliver this summer as the goal is to win the Copa America trophy ahead of Argentina, the rivals who have dominated the international scene over the last three years. The star players of the national team will be the Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo. Neymar Jr. will not be playing in the tournament for Brazil due to the ACL injury he suffered in October, but he is still recovering from it. The Al Hilal star will be in attendance for the game between Brazil and Costa Rica, and he gave his thoughts on the players he thinks will make an impact in the tournament. his comments may not sit well with Vinicius Jr. Neymar said, “Brazil’s key player? I think Rodrygo. Vini will certainly do what he knows but Rodrygo… I think he is very different. He is a craque & the #10 shirt will give him a lot of luck.”
Rodrygo talked about wearing the number 10 shirt, which was last worn by Neymar. Rodrygo talked about the importance of the shirt and said, “Wearing Brazil’s #10? First of all, for me, it’s an honor to wear the heaviest shirt in the history of football. I know it’s a very big responsibility for me and I assume this responsibility but in the dressing room we always talk about sharing the responsibility, we won’t let one or two players.”
Rodrygo also revealed that Neymar gave him his blessing for wearing the iconic number at Brazil. Rodrygo said, “My relationship with Neymar? We were talking yesterday or before. I always try to make this clear to him, that even though I’m wearing the #10 shirt now, it’s his shirt. I’m just substituting for a moment. We are waiting.”
Neymar on missing football
It has been more than eight months since Neymar has played football, and he admits that he misses playing football. Neymar said, “I want to return to playing, which is the most important. I miss it a lot. These months have been really hard. It’s not an easy injury where you just do the surgery, recover and you’re done. It’s more mental than everything. I had to prepare myself a lot mentally to continue with the will & desire to play.”
