Neymar has announced he will step away from international football with Brazil following the team’s World Cup elimination by Norway in Sunday’s round-of-16 clash.
The 34-year-old converted a late penalty for a consolation goal, but Brazil fell 2-1 after Erling Haaland struck twice, sealing the nation’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990.
After the final whistle at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, an overwhelmed Neymar dropped to the turf in tears as teammates moved in to console him.
“I tried, I tried. Now it’s over,” he told Globo. “I started here, I finished here.”
Neymar’s Brazil journey began at the same venue in August 2010, when he debuted against the United States in a friendly and scored his first goal for the national team.
Despite being hampered by repeated injury setbacks in recent years, the 34-year-old ends his international career as Brazil’s record scorer with 80 goals, three more than Pelé.
His stoppage-time goal on Sunday also made him only the second Brazilian man, after Pelé, to score at four different World Cups. Neymar’s 130 caps place him second on Brazil’s all-time appearances list, behind Cafu’s 142.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said his focus is shifting toward guiding the squad into a “new cycle.”
“What I say is that we continue to do our jobs and look for new ideas,” Ancelotti said. “It’s the same thing we did this year.
“It is an experience on my side, it is a very disappointing result and all of us are really saddened
“But this was a great group and I have to thank my players, they worked really hard. I don’t think we deserved to lose, but we have to accept it
“That is football for you, that is sports. Sometimes you have to manage the sadness and bitter taste of a defeat.
“I am very used to that, but we are going to take this defeat and use it as fuel for the new cycle.
“Everyone is profoundly sad, as the fans are. This is normal to have those feelings, but what we have to do is react correctly.”
ESPN’s Mark Ogden contributed to this report.
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