Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar has vowed to change his ways after admitting to overreacting at the FIFA World Cup.
According to RTS Sport, Neymar spent 14 minutes on the ground before Brazil’s quarter-final exit to Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The 26-year-old was heavily persecuted for over-exaggerating fouls at the tournament and he’s said that he’s accepted the criticism in a new advertisement for Gillette.
The ad started with Neymar saying, “Boot-stud on the shins. Kick in the spine. Stomp on the foot.
“You may think I overreact, and sometimes I do. But the truth is I suffer on the pitch. You have no idea what I go through outside of it.
“When I leave without talking to the press, it’s not because I only like winning, it is because I still haven’t learned to disappoint you.
“When I look impolite, it is not because I am a spoiled kid. It is because I have not learned how to deal with my frustrations.
Eu caí. Mas só quem cai, pode se levantar. Você pode continuar jogando pedra. Ou pode jogar essas pedras fora e me ajudar a ficar de pé. Porque quando eu fico de pé, parça, o Brasil inteiro levanta comigo.#umnovohomemtododia
Assista o vídeo na íntegra: https://t.co/GKvLfqOIbB pic.twitter.com/3EFBx68zL8
— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) July 30, 2018
“There’s still a boy inside of me. Sometimes it dazzles the world. Other times, it pisses everyone off. And my fight is to keep this boy alive. But inside of me, not inside the field.
“You may think I’ve fallen too much, but the reality is I did not fall. I crumbled. And that hurts more than anyone stepping on your operated ankle.
“I took time to accept your criticism. I took time to look at myself in the mirror and become a new man. But now I’m here, with my heart wide open.
“I fell but only those who fall can get up. You can keep throwing rocks at me or you can throw your rocks away and help me get up because when I do get up, the whole country gets up with me.”
The former Barcelona forward said that Brazil’s World Cup exit was the saddest moment of his career and added that it would be hard to find the strength to play football again.
‘I can say that this is the saddest moment of my career,’ he revealed in a post on Instagram.
‘It is incredibly painful because we knew we could get there, we knew we had conditions to go further, to make history.
‘But it was not this time. It’s hard to find the strength to play football again, but I’m sure God will give me strength enough to face anything, so I’ll never stop thanking God, even in defeat.
‘Because I know that your way is much better than mine I’m very happy to be part of this team, I’m proud of all, interrupted our dream but they didn’t get it out of our head and neither of our hearts.’
