Rio de Janeiro: The head trainer of Brazil’s national football team has sounded a warning to the Selecao’s World Cup rivals by declaring Neymar a more complete player after his first season at Barcelona.
According to Paulo Paixao, Neymar is now better than last year’s Confederations Cup, when he led Brazil to victory by winning the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player.
“He has grown not only in the physical sense but also with more experience,” Paixao said at the team’s training base in Teresopolis, on Tuesday.
“That makes us more assured about his fitness. We are going to see a player who is sure of himself, mature and conscious of what he needs to do.”
Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos in June last year. Despite suffering a series of injuries, he scored 17 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions in his debut season at the Camp Nou.
FIFA concerned at Natal World Cup stadium
Meanwhile, Natal is the latest World Cup venue to draw concern from football’s governing body FIFA after it was revealed thousands of seats at Dunas Arena are yet to be installed.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke posted images on Twitter on Wednesday showing vacant swaths of stands where seats are supposed to be.
“Race against the clock. Still lots to be done for World Cup fans and media,” Valcke said on the social media network after visiting the stadium.
Dunas Arena is one of four World Cup stadiums yet to be ready, despite guarantees from local authorities that all 12 venues would be complete by last December.
The 42,000-seat stadium will host four World Cup matches. (IANS)
