Rogerio Micale praises Neymar for learning from his mistakes

Rogerio Micale praises Neymar for learning from his mistakes

Brazil Olympic football coach Rogerio Micale praised his team’s captain and superstar Neymar. He said Neymar has learned from past mistakes. Brazil as tournament favourites head for Wednesday’s semifinals against the outsiders Honduras.

Rogerio Micale praises Neymar for learning from his mistakes

Brazil went into this summer’s Olympic football tournament widely predicted to win. The Barcelona star Neymar was just one of a number of top talents. Most other countries are not taking the competition as seriously.

Such hope led to disappointment. Brazil drew both their opening group games 0-0, against 10-man South Africa and Iraq. But things changed after that. They then beat Denmark 4-0 and progressed to the quarterfinals, where they overcame Colombia 2-0 in a heated game.

The tournament has also brought questioning of Neymar’s intense behaviour. The former Brazil midfielder Zico said the 24-year-old lacks the leadership skill required to be a proper captain. Although that was before the ex-Santos star scored a free kick to ensure victory.

Ahead of the game against Honduras at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, the Selecao coach defended his superstar player. He told at a news conference that Neymar had faced a lot of pressure due to his early emergence as a superstar. But he had shown the intelligence required to learn from his difficult times.

“Neymar is very young, has lots of responsibility, and became a star very early due to the quality he has,” Micale said. “Maturity comes with performances. He is intelligent, learns from his mistakes, we can see that. If he has made errors in the past, he has corrected them.

“I believe that, and I hope it happens. Football is a game of passion, with nerves on the edge, and we are humans. We can all make mistakes, even Neymar.”

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