Neymar speaks on semi-final loss, coach, future
AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO
Sifting through the ruins of Brazil’s World Cup campaign, star player Neymar says his team strove hard for glory, but other countries have moved ahead.
While refusing to pin blame on former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Neymar warned young players to beware the damage some coaches could do to young players’ development.
In an exclusive interview with Globo television broadcast on Sunday, the 22-year-old said Brazil deserved at best seven out of 10 for a Cup run that ended with a 7-1 semi-final mauling by champions Germany.
Asked why Brazil failed, Neymar said there were things that could not be explained.
“We cried because it was our childhood dream [to win it] and had fought hard to get to where we were,” Neymar said.
He said he believed he would have chosen the same 23 players as Scolari for the squad — but insisted Brazil must realize they have fallen down the pecking order and have no automatic right to success.
“I think Brazilian football is behind. It’s behind Germany and Spain. We’ve slipped behind and we have to be man enough to admit it,” he said.
The Barcelona star was forced to watch the semi-final from his coastal home in Sao Paulo state after he suffered a fractured vertebrae during the quarter-final with Colombia.
In that game, he was clattered in the back by Juan Camilo Zuniga in a “move that had nothing to do with football,” though he accepted the Colombian’s later apology.
Forced onto the sidelines, Neymar said there was no particular reason Brazil’s campaign suddenly crashed around them.
“There was no particular mistake made by the Selecao. I am not someone who understands a huge amount about tactics,” he said.
He refused to blame Scolari, Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning coach, who resigned after the tournament.
“I had a leader [who was] one of the best Brazilian coaches I’ve had,” he said.
Neymar insisted the team were sharp from training.
“We always trained,” he said. “We gave our all.”
He did indicate that the intensity of training in Brazil could be lower than in Europe.
“You train more, but sometimes you train with less determination. That’s how Brazilians are,” he said.
Neymar revealed he felt some coaching of youngsters in the game was harmful, such as when they are told on occasion to get the ball onto their stronger foot.
“The information passed on to a player is important — you have to ask why a player did [something in error],” Neymar said. “I almost learned things wrongly. The ball would come to my left leg. The coach would say to switch it onto my right foot to kick as I am right-handed. So then my father corrected that and said: ‘No, if the ball comes to your left leg, then you hit it with your left.’”
Neymar said he would seek to fulfill his World Cup dream in four years time in Russia.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2014/07/22/2003595665
Structure of the Lead：
WHO-
WHEN-not given
WHAT-
WHY-
WHERE-not given
HOW-not given
Keywords：
1. campaign：戰役
2. automatic：必然的
3. resign：辭去
4. tournament：比賽
5. youngsters：年輕人；小夥子
