Brazil great Ronaldo has opined Neymar and other Brazilian players should receive psychological support after the disappointing World Cup exit. Brazil lost on penalties against Croatia in the quarterfinals to end their World Cup dream
Neymar had scored in the extra time for the five-time champions before Bruno Petkovic equalized for Croatia just minutes away from the final whistle to take the game into the extra time. Croatia then won by 4-2 on penalties.
Neymar admitted he was psychologically destroyed after the heart-breaking loss and could not stop himself from crying for 10 minutes. The talisman had earlier revealed that this would be his last World Cup.
“I would advise having psychological support to withstand this pressure, which is extremely disproportionate for human beings,” Ronaldo said as quoted by ge.globo.
“Neymar will come back with the same passion, with the same desire. But I wanted to reinforce this need to monitor the mental health of our players … It is very important for us to address this issue, especially when it comes to the World Cup, where the whole world is looking at the national team. The world was looking at Neymar.”
Neymar scored his 77th goal for Brazil against Croatia to go level with former legend Pele.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo revealed he was also psychologically destroyed when he saw Neymar’s interview.
“When I saw the [Neymar’s] interview saying that he was psychologically destroyed, it broke my heart in a way that I was also psychologically destroyed,” Ronaldo said.
“I wanted to find a way to help him. That help exists today. In my day it was little talked about.”
After the crushing loss, Neymar, 30, revealed he may not ever play for Brazil again. However, Ronaldo feels the PSG Saint-Germain forward shouldn’t be too hard on himself.
“There’s no risk of throwing away absolutely nothing you’ve done in your career,” he said.
“Everything you’ve done is done. Neymar is consecrated. Logically everyone wants to win the World Cup, and everyone starts to realize that it’s not easy. We have five stars [World Cups], we are the biggest winners.”
