Neymar says it felt like he was attending his own funeral when he looks back at Brazil‘s 2022 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Croatia on penalties.
The Santos forward had scored in extra-time for a 1-0 lead but Croatia equalised and then won in a penalty shootout after Brazil missed two of their opening four attempts to lose 4-2.
Neymar had been set to take Brazil’s fifth penalty in the shootout.
Speaking to his Santos teammates during a YouTube video, Neymar said: “In my life, I’ve always taken the fifth penalty. The fifth is the hardest, but it might not come.”
Neymar had dreamed of winning his first major title with Brazil but went home empty handed from his third World Cup.
“I thought I was going to die,” Neymar said. “We went to the hotel after the match; it felt like the world had ended and you were gradually reuniting with your family… Everyone walked past you looking a bit serious, pulling a face, like ‘what a load of s***.’
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“I saw what my funeral would be like. I swear to God. I was in a small room, sitting there, and they were arriving. My family arrived, and more people kept coming. Everyone had red eyes, not saying a word…It felt like I was inside a coffin and everyone was saying, ‘Wow, you’re still alive, eh?’ That’s the feeling I had.”
Neymar, 34, — who is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals — is hoping to make Brazil’s World Cup squad.
He has not played for the national team since October 2023, when he tore the ACL and meniscus in his left knee.
Five time-champions Brazil have not lifted the World Cup since 2002, while their best finish since was fourth — in 2014, when they hosted the event.
