Brazil star Neymar has told Mundo Deportivo that Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi has been a pleasure to work with in his first season in Spain, despite hearing reports to the contrary prior to his arrival in Catalonia.
“Messi surprised me in all areas. Before coming here, I had heard horrible things about him- that he was extremely reserved and never spoke to anyone.”
“Now I see things differently. Besides being a genius, he was very helpful to me off the field. When I saw how he behaved with people, I realised how good a person he is. I have nothing negative to say about him.”
In addition, the 22 year-old Selecao star had the following to say on his first year in Europe: “That was the first time I had lived outside my country. I missed my family and friends. It was difficult at first, but I learned a lot, both personally and professionally.”
Neymar will of course spearhead Brazil’s World Cup campaign, which gets underway tomorrow evening against Croatia; follow live updates on sambafoot.com from 2000GMT.
