Neymar has apologised for his theatrics during the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar exaggerated some of his reactions after being fouled during the tournament.
Since Brazil’s elimination, Neymar only spoke about the defeat in Russia via Instagram. In the advert, he tried to explain why he did not speak right after the Belgium game, which fostered more criticism of his behaviour at home.
“When I leave without giving interviews it is not because I only want the victory laurels. 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,” Neymar said.
The Paris Saint Germain forward said his football style is akin to a boy’s that “sometime charms the world, sometimes irritates the whole world.”
“You may think I fall too much, but the truth is I did not fall, I fell apart,” he said, in a reference to Brazil’s quarter-finals elimination against Belgium. “That hurts more than any step on an operated ankle.”
The piece ends with Neymar’s pledge to be a new man less than a month after Brazil was knocked out of the World Cup.
“I took long to accept your criticism. I took long to look at myself in the mirror and become a new man,” Neymar said. “I fell, but only who falls can pick himself up.”
Neymar ends his ad asking fans to make a choice.
“You can keep casting stones or throw these stones away and help me stand. When I stand, all of Brazil stands with me,” he said.
