Neymar: 'The loss to Croatia was the most painful'
Brazil was very close to the semi-final ticket at the 2022 World Cup. At the end of the first extra time, Neymar escaped to receive Lucas Paqueta's bounce and then dribbled past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, scoring the opening goal. However, with about three minutes remaining in the second extra time, the team from South America let Bruno Petkovic score a 1-1 equalizer for Croatia.
In the penalty shootout, Rodrygo and Marquinhos missed, causing Brazil to lose 2-4. When the match at Education City ended, Neymar was dumbfounded, before bursting into tears. "My soul is broken," Neymar shared on Instagram. "It was definitely the loss that hurt me the most. I was dumbfounded for 10 minutes when the match ended, and then burst into tears that I couldn't hold back. Unfortunately this defeat will still hurt me. very long time".
This match, Neymar was not allowed to take the penalty kick when two teammates missed, making the match decided before the fifth set of shots. After the game, coach Tite regretted this. He said: "Neymar should have taken the fifth shot, the decisive one. The best player, with the best mentality, was assigned to the task at the moment of the highest pressure."
Neymar also hinted that this could be his last World Cup. The 30-year-old player has participated in three world championships and the best achievement is the semi-final in 2014. It was the tournament Neymar and his teammates played at home, but lost 7-1 in the semi-finals when against Germany. Brazil then lost to the Netherlands 0-3 in the third place match. Both matches Neymar is absent due to injury.
"Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever play for Brazil in the World Cup again," Neymar said.
