Neymar owns up to pitch dramatics

NEYMAR has used a sponsor’s ad to admit he exaggerated some of his reactions after being fouled during the football World Cup in Russia.

The video, published on Sunday and broadcast on several Brazilian TV networks, features the striker accepting criticism for the first time and promising to pick himself up.

The striker scored two goals in the tournament and was not too disappointing until his team got knocked out by Belgium in the quarter-finals.

But fans and players have spoken much more about his theatrics on the pitch.

“You may think I exaggerate. And sometimes I do exaggerate. But the truth is I suffer on the pitch,” Neymar said in the sponsored ad.

Since Brazil’s elimination, Neymar only spoke about the defeat in Russia via Instagram.

In the ad he tried to explain why he did not speak right after the Belgium game, which fostered even more criticism of his behaviour at home.

“When I leave without giving interviews it is not because I only want the victory laurels,” the player said. “It is because I still haven’t learnt to disappoint you. When I look impolite, it is not because I am a spoiled kid. It is because I have not learnt how to be frustrated.”

It ends with Neymar’s pledge to be a new man less than a month after Brazil were 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.