Author: Soorya G
Brazilian veteran Neymar was furious when a fan threw a bag of popcorn at him during the Brazilian national team’s World Cup qualifier against Venezuela. The current Al-Hilal star criticized the actions of the fan in question and said that ups and downs are part of it and that fans shouldn’t indulge in this kind of vandalism. He emphasized the enormous weight that falls on the shoulders of international players, even more so on more experienced players like himself, and made it clear that he “didn’t come to take a vacation”.
“It’s sad, obviously it’s very sad, I didn’t come here on vacation, much less for a walk, I came to do what I love most, which is to play soccer and defend my country.“
With a draw against Venezuela, Brazil ended their 15-game unbeaten run at home in World Cup qualifying. However, Neymar was quick to analyze that Venezuela played a very intelligent game and deserved praise for the result they managed to get. The lack of a proper center forward was evident, and the Brazilians will try to solve the problem in the future. However, Neymar also spoke out against the inappropriate behavior of a certain group of fans that has unfortunately become part of South American soccer.
“Obviously, we’re there doing our best, giving our best, and often the result doesn’t come, it’s not what the fans expect. That fan who launched… I didn’t even see what it was, I only saw it when it hit me, I got very nervous, I condemn that kind of attitude, you don’t have to do that, it’s very bad for soccer, for human beings. A guy who does this kind of thing isn’t an educated guy, he won’t be able to raise his son in the best possible way. If he complains so much, he should have trained better and been on the pitch, not me“, said Neymar.
Neymar thought the Seleção played a good game, but didn’t take advantage of the chances they had. The veteran, who also provided an assist, praised the Venezuelan goalkeeper for his efforts.
“It’s hard to say now… I’m going to analyze this game. I don’t think we played badly, we tried, we tried to create chances, we had a few, their goalkeeper was good today. Unfortunately, they found the ball and scored the equalizer. These details and mistakes we have to try to fix so that we don’t get surprised like we were today.“