The Paris Saint-Germain attacker endured a difficult World Cup campaign, but his compatriot still believes in him
Former Brazil international Julio Baptista is confident Neymar can still become the best player in the world, irrespective of his underwhelming performances at the World Cup.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker recovered just in time from a foot injury to participate in the finals, but failed to live up to the high expectations in Russia.
Although Neymar scored twice in five appearances, he could not prevent Brazil from crashing out in the quarter-finals as Belgium beat them 2-1 in Kazan.
Additionally, the 26-year-old was heavily criticised for his behaviour throughout the tournament, with the forward being accused of playacting on more than one occasion.
Neymar's disappointing World Cup campaign came after an eventful season at PSG, with the Brazilian impressing in Ligue 1 following his move from Barcelona, yet missing out on Champions League glory as injury prevented him from lining up in the tie with Real Madrid.
The former Santos man thus does not seem to be among the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or in 2018, but Baptista believes he could still get there in the future.
"Everything in life has a beginning, a middle and an end," Baptista told Goal at a La Liga event in Moscow.
"For him there was the beginning in Barcelona, where he had won many titles. He was part of one of the best teams in the world, he learned how to play in Europe and other important things.
"But he believed that it was time for him to take the next step and to be able to fulfil his personal goal, which is to try to be the best in the world. Maybe in Barcelona he believed that he could not be the best player in the world and I think he made the decision to leave because of that.
"He is not yet the best, he has work to do. But if he keeps working hard, he can get there."
Neymar has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid following the Champions League holders' decision to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus earlier in July, even if they have formally denied that the Brazilian is a transfer target for them.
palashguptanjr
126
neymar haters are barking all the way.... but you cant disrespect the player who has been consecutively nominated in the top 5 list of ballon d or for 6 yrs.... yes maybe some new stars played better than him at the world cup... mbappe hazard modric maybe more... also he dived a lot due to which he is disliked the most but trust me he is a player who was worth 222 million euros..... he was a great player at barcelona.... one compared to messi and cr7..... but now this season was a bad nightmare for him.... he played brilliant in paris 28 goals 30 games 19 assists is not just a joke...... injury ruled him out... in world cup he was blamed for his acting.... but trust me mbappe hazard salah or many more thay haventt proved their consistency yet... neymar did it... again and again... just a bad world cup campaign cant be the criteria to judge him..... for me ifsomeone other than messi and cr7 gets ballon dor it will be him... coz he is worth it... i know neymar u have a lot of haters after u left barca people called u moneymar then a diver oscar..... but you know what there will always be a single fan left for u who will always be by ur side.... i will always love u my star neymar jr... good luck for club and country in future... i know this critisicm of u is very hard to handle when u are already broken due to the world cup elimination.... but please comeback stronger.... we will always suport u.... with love... neymar jr fan.....❤️
kinglionelmessi
120
he is already best in diving... 🤣🤣🤣
BAPPSPAULO
99
what a player he is this guy is pure genius everybody has ups and downs Messi is currently having a bad time due to his performances at the world cup Ronaldo has faced a lot of criticisms at the start of la liga due to his goal draught and Neymar is a very good player and the truth is that he gets some hard tackles from the opponent because they know he poses a threat although he exaggerates a lot but it is fair to recognize the awesome player he is
BAPPSPAULO
97
haters keep hating he keeps smiling and scoring goals that will shut you up
cr7thegreatest
89
neymar has became the world's best actor . and won the Oscar for best male actor for first time . 😀😂😂😂😂
linabdnoy
75
Guys, stop hating on him. People should have respected his decision to leave Barcelona last year just like any other player who wants new challenges...But since them u have been hating on him and then he had JUST recovered from a foot injury and u say he isn’t playing well. That’s obviously because he’s just back from injury, have u seen Salah playing after Champions League injury? Maybe he had dived a little bit but he did have a foot injury so maybe his foot was more sensitive than usual...Give him a chance and im definite he’s gonna return to the old amazing Ney we all know
BAPPSPAULO
70
how Neymar looks at haters and criticizers
puzabelop
64
Neymar has the potential to be among the the best but he is not serious we can't say he is the third but he is not bed
argies
59
Let's face the facts because most of you in which are comenting either living in denial are just a diehearted neymar are brazilian fan..no one is fighting this guy in fact he's fighting himself. .don't forget he's 26 years of age n by the time you know it he's 30 n by then players liked mbappe dyballa will Dominating world football leaving him behind. .right now the world is looking at him like a stupid clown..n no one but him responsible for that because of his own actions. .The thing is he's is a big talent but very indiscipline n lock of self esteem n too ambitious mean he's putting himself ahead of everybody without not even reach there levels. .n that is confusing his Brian ..The best thing for neymar now at age 26 is to try and calm down for the rest of his career ..try earned back some respect be a player that ppl willing to use their time n watch. .change his dirty way by bringing disunity with his teamates once it was carvany now it mbappe. n the last thing to be the best after Messi n Ronaldo he will afto leave psg n find back a elite club to help him because he made a big mistake by leaving barca for psg I'm which may be the the recipe for ending his career because I don't see psg allow him to go after just one season.
Naudelmnru
51
I don’t think that anybody hated him. He just need to grow up. Stop acting and play soccer like he can, and fight too be the best player in the world. His foot injury doesn’t have too be a problem since he recovered from it and could play the World Cup. He used that and thinks that people will like the comedy’s he plays because of that. Ney you are a good player but you have too show what you can and stop acting. The field you’re on is too play soccer and work to be the best player in the world. Not to act. Keep positive people and respect the opinion from others.
hapcenorsu
31
He will be a good footballer if he removes those insane dives and pretence that has been seriously fouled yet it is just afoul. Am his supporter but I don't like those tricks, let him concentrate on moving forward and score instead of keeping himself on ground for us we want goals from him. I feel so sad when we need goals to win a match then you see some one doing such things. Neymar all the best.