Neymar: “If football was a solo sport, I’d have achieved all my goals”

The Brazilian star opened up on the criticism he has faced throughout his career

Image Credits: © (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Neymar may be one of the greatest Brazilian footballers of all time, yet he has his fair share of critics, both in Brazil and in Paris, where he plays for PSG. Sometimes it is hard to understand how such a talented player can draw so much criticism, but at the end of the day, it is more usual than one could imagine.

The Santos product understands that. In an interview with Bandsports, Ney opened up on dealing with this situation, which he considers unfair since football is a team sport and the blame should not fall on only one player.

Neymar addresses the critics

“Football is not a solo sport. If it was, for sure, I would have already achieved all my goals. But it is not. So sometimes, obviously, the blame always falls on the guy with the biggest name. We see the case of a guy who suffered in Argentina for a long time, Messi and now, in the last Cup, he managed to win. Why? Because there was a team that helped him, played for him, achieved success”, he said.

“I never ran away from the critics. Quite the contrary. I know my talent,” Ney added.

Neymar has gone through a few difficult months lately, having fallen short at the World Cup with Brazil before suffering a season-ending injury with Paris Saint-Germain. On top of that, his future with the French club looks up in the air amid tension with PSG fans.