Neymar: "I couldn't look at a football" after the World Cup

Brazil superstar Neymar admits that after his nation's quarter-final defeat to Belgium at the World Cup he couldn't look at a ball and didn't want to see any of the remaining matches.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say I didn't want to play again but, I didn't want to see a ball, or to see any more football played," 26-year-old Neymar told AFP in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

The Paris Saint Germain forward was talking at his Neymar Praia Grande institute where the Red Bull Neymar Jr 5's (five-a-side-soccer) tournament was being played.

Dressed in a sleeveless t-shirt, with his six-year-old son Davi Lucca sat upon his knee, the striker was however in a relaxed mood as he explained his post-World Cup blues.

"I was in mourning, I was really sad about it, but sadness passes, I have my son, my family, my friends and they don't want to see me moping around. I've got more reason to be happy than sad," said Neymar, reflecting on his team's 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Belgium.

Asked about reports in Spain linking him with a transfer to Real Madrid the forward said "that's all speculation from the press."
"I have prepared myself to handle this pressure and I know that when the results are not what they should be then that pressure increases."
- 'Criticism of me exaggerated' -
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