Neymar defends himself against overacting allegations

Brazil forward Neymar has defended himself against accusations he over‑acted after a challenge during the 2‑0 World Cup last‑16 win over Mexico, saying ‘he just feels the pain’.

Neymar reacted strongly to an incident in which a Mexcio player seemed to stand on his ankle.

Mexico coach had said the Paris St‑Germain player’s “acting” is “not a good example for football”.

However, Neymar said, it is complicated and it is not something he can control.

He added he got stepped on unfairly and it was off the ball, outside the game and thinks it should not have been done.

In this World Cup, Neymar has been fouled 23 times.

Brazil has won the FIFA World Cup for a record 5 times.

They won it in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.

In 1958 Brazil beat Sweden 5-2, in 1962 they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1, in 1970 Brazil overcame Italy 4-1, in 1994 they defeated Italy 3-2 on penalties while in 2002, Ronaldo scored two goals as Brazil beat Germany 2-0.

The last time Brazil played a final of the World Cup was in 2002 and the furthest they went after that was the semifinal in 2014 where they were humiliated 7-1 by eventual winners, Germany.

Brazil will now play Belgium in the quarterfinal at 6am Saturday.

In other quarterfinals, France will play Uruguay at 2am Saturday England will play Sweden at 2am Sunday while at 6am Sunday Croatia will take on Russia.

Your #WorldCup quarter-final line-up is complete! #URUFRA #BRABEL#SWEENG #RUSCRO #URU #FRA #BRA #BEL #SWE #ENG #RUS #CRO pic.twitter.com/LKhUP0XNeC

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 3, 2018

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