Portuguese → English transcript

In Brazil right now, one of the things that drives the most engagement, and it is unavoidable not to ask you about it, is the Neymar issue.

And it is an annoying topic, you know, João Flutos? It is annoying, because everybody talks about it, everybody asks, everybody answers, but, really, it is pretty annoying.

Especially me, honestly, I am a friend of Neymar. I am a guy who has been playing with Neymar since I was twelve, you know?

And, well, it is that, right? Neymar going or not going, everybody is left hanging.

But, look, man, I think it is very clear, especially in my opinion, it is always very clear.

Neymar does not have to prove anything to anyone. And Ancelotti, and everyone, made it very clear, it is the physical issue, the physical side.

If he will be able to get closer to his physical peak. Because as for talent, we do not even need to talk here about what a great player he is,

what a great player he was and the talent he has with the ball at his feet, right?

I think the big issue here is the physical part. I understand that the coaching staff is analyzing that.

And Ancelotti has always made that very clear in interviews. But I, personally, am a huge fan of Neymar.

I have immense affection for him, for what he has already done for football and for what he has already shown with the ball at his feet.

But it is up to Ancelotti, right? It is up to Ancelotti to make that decision. I am not the one who is going to make that decision.

So the only thing I have to say is that I am a huge fan of his, a great friend.

And hopefully, if he is physically well, then there is not even a discussion.

He has to go. He is the star of the team, he is the guy on the team, but the issue here, and it is up to him too, is being physically fit.

I think sometimes people have a slightly wrong view of Neymar, from what we talk about with people like you

and other players from clubs and the national team, that he could be a negative influence in the locker room, right?

Whatever he does off the field, whether you agree or disagree, we always hear good reports from those around him about what he is like on the inside.

Do the players who are on the national team right now also think he can be a good influence?

And even if he were on the bench, do you think he could be a problem or not?

That’s each person’s opinion, right? And then you have to ask what the others think, right?

In my opinion, Neymar has never had a problem like that.

In fact, he is the right age, he has the experience to be one of the captains of the national team, and he has never cared about that on the national team, you know?

He always wanted to give the ball to my feet and “let’s have fun, let’s play soccer” and, man, this is who I am, I want to have fun on the field.

I want to enjoy myself on the field, and Neymar has always shown that.

Neymar has never had that role of wanting to be tough or wanting to be…

No, Neymar has always been a guy who wanted to have fun on the field.

And I think that if you talk to him, in my opinion, about his desire to play a World Cup and you proposed, if Antônio Leal proposed this to him,

I think he will want to go to the national team, because he wants to, then he gets there, he shows it and shows it on the field, right?

And he shows it in training, but I think that if you talk, I think there would need to be a talk and you go and talk,

talk, like, you are not going to play that many games, but, look, in a certain game, you will be crucial in those twenty minutes, thirty minutes

or you will play this game. I think it is just a conversation, right?

So, coming back to it. It is what Ancelotti will think. So I think that bomb there is Ancelotti’s, right?

And there is no better coach in the world, no one with more experience in the world, to deal with a situation like this, right?

So I am sure that whatever decision he makes will always be for the good of the group.