Neymar ‘psychologically destroyed’ by World Cup exit

11.12.2022 - 12:25 arabnews.com

DOHA: Neymar said Saturday he was “psychologically destroyed” by Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup in a penalty shootout defeat to Croatia and admitted it hurt 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 goals for the Selecao in Friday’s match that finished 1-1 after extra time.

But he never got to take a spot kick in the shootout that Croatia won 4-2 to move into the semifinals. Pre-tournament favorites Brazil must now wait at least another four years to win their sixth World Cup — their last dates back to 2002. “I am psychologically destroyed.

It is definitely the defeat which has hurt me the most, which left me paralyzed for ten minutes after the match, after which I burst into tears without being able to stop,” Neymar said in an Instagram message. “It is going to hurt for a very long time, unfortunately,” he added.

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LLISBON: Fernando Santos has left his job as Portugal coach after his team lost to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said on Thursday (Dec 15). The Portuguese suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Morocco in Qatar on Saturday, after Santos started with the country's all-time record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo on the substitutes' bench. "After one of the best participations ever by the national team in the final stages of the World Cup...FPF and Fernando Santos understand this is the right moment to start a new cycle," the FPF said in a statement. Santos, who has been widely criticised for his tactics, became Portugal coach in 2014 and led the country in 109 matches. They won the European Championship in 2016 and UEFA's inaugural Nations League in 2018-19. "In addition to the titles won, Fernando Santos became the coach with the most games and most victories," FPF said. "It was an honour to have a coach and a person like Fernando Santos as the head of the national team." FPF said its board would now start the process of selecting a new manager.

Portugal coach quits after World Cup exit in quarterfinals

LISBON: Portugal coach Fernando Santos has quit, the Portuguese soccer federation announced Thursday, after eight years in the job and five days after Portugal’s exit from the World Cup in the quarterfinals. The 68-year-old Santos reached an amicable agreement with the federation to leave two years before his contract ends, a statement said. The federation named no replacement for Santos and said they were starting their search.