Brazilian star Neymar hit back at Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio’s claims of the forward “wasting time” and that his attempts at play-acting were a “shame for football”. The Selecao’s No 10, said that derogatory comments about his style were an attempt to belittle his abilities. Neymar scored a goal and set up one for Roberto Firmino as Tite’s side romped to a 2-0 win over Mexico in the round 16.
“Look, I think it’s more an attempt to undermine me than anything else,” said the Brazilian. “I don’t care much for criticism, or praise, because this can influence your attitude. In the last two matches I didn’t talk to the press because I don’t want to I just have to play, help my teammates, help my team.
“I’m here to win. I can always improve. Today I feel much better and I’m very happy for this win.”
Neymar once again drew a lot of flak in a second-half incident, where tensions boiled over on the touchline. Mexico’s Miguel Layun was spotted gingerly planting a foot on Neymar’s shin while collecting the ball from the touchline. What followed was a four-minute stoppage in play as the PSG player needed treatment. He went on to play the rest of the game, which saw him deliver a sparkling performance.
“We have to learn to suffer,” said Neymar. “It was a very difficult match, we knew the quality of our opponents.” The Paris Saint-Germain forward stabbed home a low cross from Willian in the 51st minute to score his sixth World Cup goal and second of this year’s tournament, but first in a knockout matches.“I’m very happy with my performance but even more so with the team’s victory,” he said.
Neymar also had words of praise for goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who, just like the 2014 group-game frustrated the Brazilians with a number of fine saves. Neymar said: “He is a great goalkeeper. Everybody knows his qualities. but I will not give up. I will always chase till the end and we got the result because of that.”
Brazil coach Tite stood by his player” “They stepped on him. I saw it on the screen. The five-time champions play Belgium in the quarter-finals after the Red Devils registered a last-gasp come-from-behind win against Japan.