Neymar ‘misunderstood’ about retirement after World Cup 2022

Neymar

has had an emotional interview recently during which he admitted that he believes the World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be his last World Cup, revealing that he doesn’t think he is mentally strong enough to continue down the line.

What he said seemed so concrete; notwithstanding that, the

star backtracked on his comments and said that he sees every game as his last since it motivates him.

"

I said something, but people understood a different thing,"

he told Red Bull.

"I said that, yes, this would be my last World Cup and that I would face it in the best way possible.

"I will give my best to be there at 100% because it's as if I had a game the next day, it's how I go about it. If there's a game tomorrow, that game to me, it's as if it was the last one in my life.

"So, for that World Cup that's coming up, I'm thinking about it as if it was the last one for me because I don't know how tomorrow will be and what can happen.

"When I said that, it was a bit controversial, with people saying I wanted to stop playing football and that I would leave the national team. People understood a completely different thing. I wanted to say that I'm seeing it as if it was the last one. Why? Because we don't know how tomorrow will be and what can happen."

The Brazilian’s defence comes soon after his teammate Marquinhos told

Le Parisien

that what he said was ‘misinterpreted’ and he doesn’t intend to retire from international duty.

Neymar is eyeing Pele’s 77 goals record for Brazil, which is seven more than the PSG winger has managed so far.

"

I think this is one of those I want to achieve because it's for my country, the national team I play for and for the country I was born in,"

he continued.

"I don't think I can express myself to say how it would feel if I achieved that goal. It's something I have as a clear goal.

"I believe every player when they're about to reach something, they're even more motivated. But I'm far from thinking I'm better than Pele or comparing myself to him. I have this opportunity of overtaking Pele's goal record, yes, but my respect for him is bigger and, I'm sure, when I score that 77th goal I'll pay homage to him.

"Pele means football. Ever since I understood what football was, I always heard the name of Pele. If someone on the street, on a field or at school would dribble past three players and scored a goal, someone would always say, 'you scored a goal like Pele'.

"Or when you had someone at school acting up and thinking they were the best, we would say, 'do you think you're Pele?'. These type of expressions I've been hearing since I was a child.

"Pele to me is the king of football, the biggest idol in Brazil. I have a huge amount of respect for him and for everything he did for our football and country. If Brazil is nowadays world-famous for football, it's because of him. We are really blessed that Pele was born in Brazil."

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