Paris Saint Germain forward, Neymar has been named as Brazil’s captain going forward after coach Tite made away with his rotational captain policy
Neymar has been a controversial figure, with many pointing at his antics at the World Cup, where he scored twice, as a reason for him not to be taken seriously.
Tite believes that giving the PSG star the captaincy will also help in his development.
Accepting the new role, Neymar said: “I accepted again because I’ve learned a lot and I will learn much more. And this responsibility will be a good thing to me.”
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The former Barcelona star didn’t shy away from the controversy of the World Cup either, “I think that probably no one here in this room will ever live something close that I’ve lived not even during the Olympics, but after the World Cup as well.” he said
Neymar also added: “I was targeted by many critics, a lot of bad things and I wasn’t OK at that very moment [after the game against Belgium] to speak. So when I’m not OK to speak I prefer to stay shut because the silence is the best answer.”
He also had a few words for his critics: “I don’t have much to say about it. I’m a player who takes the ball 11 times and in 10 times I go straight to the opponent.
“I think they won’t let me pass without giving me a little strike. I can’t ask them, ‘Hey, excuse me but let me score’. I suffered lots of fouls during the World Cup. But it happened. It’s another lesson I carry with me.”
“My responsibility is even bigger due to the captaincy but if you don’t play [good] football there’s no need of it,” Neymar continued when asked how he could silence his critics.
“I want to apologise to the supporters which got mad with us because losing is a very bad thing. We believed we could [be world champions] but it wasn’t possible.”