Brazilian playmaker Neymar Jr. said the loss to Croatia in a penalty shootout hurt him more than any other loss in his career.
The 30-year-old scored a superb individual effort to equal Pele’s record goalscoring haul of 77 for the Selecao in Friday’s 1-1 extra-time draw. Favorites before the tournament Brazil will now have to wait at least another four years to win their sixth World Cup, which they last did in 2002.
On Saturday, Neymar said he was “psychologically destroyed” by Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup in Qatar in an Instagram post.
Neymar stated immediately after Brazil’s elimination that he may have played his final match for his country, but Brazilian legend Pele encouraged him with kind words. He stated:
“I am psychologically destroyed. It is definitely the defeat that hurt me the most, which left me paralysed for ten minutes after the match, after which I burst into tears without being able to stop.
“It is going to hurt for a very long time, unfortunately.”
