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‘Brazil should respect Neymar’
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil coach Rogerio Micale rallied round under-fire captain Neymar on Tuesday after two goalless draws left the Olympic hosts perilously close to
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil coach Rogerio Micale rallied round under-fire captain Neymar on Tuesday after two goalless draws left the Olympic hosts perilously close to another humiliating exit on home soil.
Micale’s men need to beat Group A leaders Denmark in Salvador on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the quarterfinals, after being booed off in consecutive stalemates against South Africa and Iraq.
Barcelona’s Neymar has attracted fierce criticism, with his lacklustre and petulant displays being compared with Marta, the Brazilian women’s five-time World Player of the Year. Twitter was awash with the hash tage “Neymar out, Marta in”, and a picture of a boy wearing a Brazil shirt with Neymar’s name scrubbed out and Marta written underneath went viral.
However, Micale highlighted the seven-year age gap between the two for Marta’s greater maturity, and insisted Neymar will eventually depose Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become the world’s best player.
“We can say that Marta is a sensational player, (she) has all our recognition, but Neymar has my recognition as the future best player in the world,” said Micale.
“We need to respect Neymar. He’s young. I know that at times he acts in a way we do not want, but at his age, would we not do the same things he does? If we don’t respect our best players, they might not want to be with us anymore.”
COLOMBIA HALT USA’S WINNING STREAK
RIO DE JANEIRO: The USA women’s football team’s Olympic winning streak was ended by a horror show from controversial goalkeeper Hope Solo in a 2-2 draw with Colombia on Tuesday. Brazil’s darling Marta only appeared as a second-half substitute as the hosts were also held 0-0 against South Africa to secure top spot in Group E. Meanwhile, Germany, Australia, France, Sweden and China all booked their places in quarters.
