Neymar wreaks frustration on treatment

In a 90-second video made for his sponsor Gillette and published on social networks and Brazilian television, the Paris Saint-Germain striker tries to win back supporters who criticize his behavior.

"Studs on my calf, knee in my back, stamp on my foot," he said. "You might think that I exaggerate and sometimes I really exaggerate, but the fact is that I suffer on the ground."

"There is still a child in me, sometimes it enchants the world and sometimes it irritates the world."

Neymar had hoped that the Russian World Cup would elevate him to a similarly valued status by the thirties Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – the two players who shared the Fifa World Player of Instead, he sank in the quarterfinals when Brazil lost against Belgium while the fans were concentrating less on his football and more on his dives, his roulades and his tears.

The former Santos and Barcelona player, who suffered a serious foot injury in February and returned to action a few days before the start of the World Cup, has told fans that he was working to become a better person and cope with football disappointments.

"When I seem rude, it's not because I'm a spoiled child, it's because I have not learned how to handle frustration," he said in a voiceover to the video in black and white. I took the time to accept your criticism, it is your time I give myself to look in the mirror and turn myself into a new man. But here I am, with a new face and an open heart. I fell, but only those who have fallen can get up

"You can continue throwing stones or throwing those stones and help me to stay upright, when I stand up, all of Brazil is with me."

Irish freelance