“You may think I exaggerate. And sometimes I do exaggerate. But the truth is I suffer on the pitch,” says Neymar in a new Gillette advertisement that was released on Sunday by the brand that sells shaving supplies.
The Brazilian superstar came for a lot of flak during the recently concluded Fifa World Cup in Russia, famously spending 14 minutes during the duration of the tournament on the floor. His antics, rolling and tumbling at the slightest touch from opposition defenders, became a running gag on social media.
Following Mexico’s defeat to Brazil in the round of 16, a game where Neymar scored one and set up his team’s second goal, El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio slammed the forward for his time-wasting tactics, calling it a disgrace to football. Paris Saint-Germain’s new coach Thomas Tuchel even promised to have a word with his talisman before the start of the season.
“You may think I fall too much,” Neymar says. “But the truth is I did not fall. I fell apart,” he added, referring to Brazil’s stunning quarter-final loss against a well-drilled Belgium side.
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
— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) July 30, 2018
Assista o vídeo na íntegra: https://t.co/GKvLfqOIbB pic.twitter.com/3EFBx68zL8
Only a few months earlier, Neymar’s hopes of playing in the tournament was in doubt after damaging his ankle during a French Ligue 1 game: “That [Defeat to Belgium] hurts more than any step on an operated ankle. I fell, but only who falls can pick himself up.”
Last year, the 26-year-old, quite shockingly, stormed off from an interview shouting out an expletive. He defended his stance, “When I leave without giving interviews it is not because I only want the victory laurels,” Neymar says. “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 be frustrated,”
That kid, Neymar goes on to say “sometime charms the world, sometimes irritates the whole world.”
“I fight to keep that boy alive inside of me, but not on the pitch,” he says. “You can keep casting stones. Or throw these stones away and help me stand. When I stand, all of Brazil stands with me.”
An elaborate PR exercise for sure but will be enough to garner sympathy from his critics? For the ones baying for Neymar’s blood, his cheekily orchestrated moves to feign injury have outweighed his genius with the ball at his feet. The grand plan of rebuilding that problem child image of the Selecao No 10 begins with this advertisement.