Neymar spoke about the picture of himself with Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes after Argentina won the 2021 Copa America against Brazil.
Lionel Messi, Leandro Paredes and the Argentina national team won 1-0 against Brazil at the 2021 Copa America and Neymar was seen speaking with them after Brazil’s loss. In an interview with CONMEBOL, here is what he had to say:
“It brings me two different feelings. The first is bad, because it was a final in which lost against Argentina and the second is that think I football goes way beyond that. It goes beyond this rivalry. Messi and Paredes are phenomenal guys off the pitch, even though they’re Argentines who are natural rivals of Brazil.
“We became friends, and after the match ended, I’d already cried. I’d already been sad. Then I found them there on the steps of the Maracanã and we just stayed there talking about our stories at PSG, about the moment we were living, about the pandemic, in short, about various things.
“And we found a bit of happiness in the chaos of all that. So football goes beyond this rivalry. We do everything, but after the match ends there, we’re all human beings, regardless of the shirt you wear regardless of the country you’re from. We’re all human beings, we all have feelings.
“So this photo says it all. They’re two guys who were there living their peaks with their national teams, and they’re the two main names of their national team. Messi is number one in football. So for me, seeing this photo means a lot.
“I think it shows two guys who fought for the title in the final, gave 100% and after the match we managed to find a moment of happiness. Both for the guy who was the champion and for the guy who was defeated. So this means a lot, it’s our friendship.”
