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ESPN staff 6y

Casagrande calls 'spoiled' Neymar 'a monster,' Neymar Sr. hits back

Neymar Sr. has hit back at former Brazil international Walter Casagrande for his harsh criticism of Neymar following PSG's Champions League loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Casagrande, a popular analyst in Brazil, accused Neymar of being too individualistic during the Parisian side's 3-1 round-of-16 first-leg defeat at the Bernabeu, calling the Brazilian star "spoiled" while blaming fans and media for "creating a monster."

Neymar failed to score in Madrid but played a part in the opening goal before the defending champs answered with three strikes of their own to take a clear advantage heading back to Paris for the return leg.

However, Casagrande, speaking on the program Redacao SporTV, didn't hold back in his criticism of the world's most expensive player.

"Football is collective. The teams don't have to look for a guy that has Neymar's profile. Neymar has to have the team's profile," the former Corinthians striker said on Thursday.

"Pele's Santos, despite having other great players next to him... Pele, with all of his genius, stepped down some degrees to be part of the collective. [...]

"Neymar still doesn't have the genius, the level of a [Diego] Maradona, of a [Lionel] Messi, of a Cristiano Ronaldo that the team can wait for him to resolve matches.

"It's not like that. Brazilians are deluded by this."

He continued: "I'm annoyed the majority of Brazilian fans and the press are patting Neymar on the head. He's already shown at various times behaviours outside of the collective, spoiled, even putting the team at risk.

"Yesterday [Wednesday], he received a yellow card in the first half. If he makes one more foul the ref sends him off. That would be disastrous. This could happen in a World Cup. [...] They say: 'Cavani doesn't know anything, sign [so-and-so], Neymar has to leave Barcelona because he's behind Messi, the striker doesn't fit with him here, let's take him somewhere else.'

"We are creating a monster, instead of fixing the monster for him to become a genius."

Neymar's father tore into the criticism later on Thursday via his Instagram account, on which he posted a picture of his son under a phoenix.

He wrote: "Sometimes they enjoy a strong microphone, after a career as a 'player' [I can't call even call someone with at least questionable behaviour off the pitch an 'athlete'] without much brilliance, always in the shadow of others more talented, to distill their frustrations. To take advantage of a loss, a BATTLE lost, to be lurking, waiting for a lost war, to feed their egos like vultures feed on a corpse.

"He didn't get it at the Olympics in Rio [de Janeiro], but he kept waiting."

He added of his son: "We lost a battle. As for the war, we'll see, because it will last as long as it's on the pitch. And be sure ... like a phoenix he will be reborn, prepared for all the fights ahead!"

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