Neymar admits 'exaggerating'

Neymar is using a sponsor's ad to admit he exaggerated some of his reactions after being fouled during the World Cup in Russia.

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

Neymar scored two goals in the tournament but failed to truly set the finals alight as his team was knocked out by Belgium in the quarterfinals.

Fans and pundits have spoken much more about his theatrics on the pitch, which included dives, rolling and frequent arguing with referees.

"You may think I exaggerate - and sometimes I do exaggerate. But the truth is I suffer on the pitch," Neymar says in the ad, sponsored by the Gillette razor company.

Since Brazil's elimination, Neymar only spoke about the loss in Russia via Instagram. In the ad he tries to explain why he did not speak right after the Belgium game, which fostered even more criticism of his behavior at home.

"When I leave without giving interviews it is not because I only want the victory laurels. It is because I still haven't learned to disappoint you.

"When I look impolite, it is not because I am a spoiled kid; it is because I have not learned how to be frustrated," the player says, adding that his style is akin to a boy's that "sometimes charms the whole world, sometimes irritates the whole world".

"I fight to keep that boy alive inside of me, but not on the pitch," he says.

"You may think I fall too much, but the truth is I did not fall. I fell apart. That hurts more than any step on an operated ankle."

The piece ends with Neymar's pledge to be a new man less than a month after Brazil was 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 says.

"I fell, but only he who falls can pick himself up."

Neymar ends his ad asking fans to make a choice.

"You can keep casting stones, or throw those stones away and help me stand. When I stand, all of Brazil stands with me."

On July 20, at his first public appearance after the World Cup, Neymar did not talk about his exaggerations.

At that time, he said he wasn't upset with critics that made fun of his theatrics in Russia.

Associated Press