Neymar spoke to reporters after his Brazil side’s 3-0 win over New Zealand and expressed his delight at the progress of the Seleção, even if his happiness was tempered by a disappointing miss.
Neymar, 20, also had a first-half effort chalked-off for offside, but believes his later miss was the “worst of his career”.
Brazil, though, continued their serene progress, scoring three times for the third game in succession.
Neymar said: “The ball bounced. I tried to finish it, but it came hard and bounced up. It’s the worst miss of my career.
“The team is relaxing, we controlled the game more and worked the ball. This maturity we are picking up and it is increasing with each game.
“Being favourite is great because it’s the Seleção. However, we know that it must be proved on the pitch. If you don’t perform there, you won’t win. We have to enter fully prepared so we don’t get defeated.”
