Neymar breaks his silence after World Cup exit
Brazil were eliminated from the World Cup on Friday, and Neymar has now expressed his despair at the result via his Instagram.
"I can say that it's one of the saddest moments of my career," he stated, in reaction to his side's defeat to Belgium. "The pain is very big because we knew that we could win, we knew we had the chance to go further, but it wasn't to be this time."
Neymar's words make it clear that he will find it hard to return to football, explaining how tricky it will be to pick himself back up.
"It's difficult to find the force to want to go back to playing football, but I'm certain that God will give me the sufficient force to face up to anything, so I will never stop thanking God, even in defeat."
He also thanked his teammates for their efforts. "Very happy to be part of this team, I am proud of all of them. Our dream has been interrupted, but it hasn't been taken out of our heads and our hearts."
The Brazilian star has bid farewell to Russia, and he will now take a moment to reflect before returning his focus to club football. Will that club be PSG, or a new destination?