Neymar: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start!”

After leading Brazil to its first win (3-1) against Croatia last night, Neymar revealed that his performance ended up surprising even himself. The Brazilian star scored his side’s first two goals and was the main responsible for the hosts to turn around a very tough game against the Croatians.

Neymar: “I feel a great joy! This debut-game was better than any other I could have imagined…”, stated the Barcelona star, who scored the equalizer through a terrific left-foot strike deep in the first half and then scored the winner later in the second period, after converting a non-existent penalty-kick drawn by his teammate Fred.

A couple minutes before Neymar got his first World Cup goal, the Brazilian was shown a yellow card when fighting for a high ball with Real Madrid‘s midfielder, Luka Modric. He’s now in danger of missing a World Cup game due to suspension, which will only happen if he ends up getting another yellow card in the upcoming matches for Brazil. Nevertheless, the 22-year old didn’t appear to be too worried about that. Neymar: “I’ll approach the next games naturally and trying to not over-think about that”, assured Brazil‘s number 10.

A few other Brazilian players also had a few statements to the media after the game is over, so here’s a quick round-up.

Óscar: “This was probably one of the best games of my career. I’m very happy for having won our opening game, but we must pay a bit more attention in some defensive plays over the next matches…” alerted the Chelsea FC midfielder.

David Luíz: “I think that the final score mirrors what happened on the pitch during the whole 90 minutes. The friendlies matches we’ve been through allowed us to improve as a team and be capable of dealing with the sort of difficulties we’ve had against Croatia“, commented the Brazilian defender, suggesting that the referee’s decision of granting a penalty-kick to Brazil deep in the second half may not have been as decisive as many others are claiming.

One of the highlights of the night went to Marcelo, the man who scored the opening goal of this World Cup, even though he has done it in the wrong net… Nevertheless, the left-back showed great character and was an important player in Brazil‘s reaction.

Marcelo: “I kept calm even after what happened, because I knew that if I didn’t react properly, I would harm my team even more”, humbly remarked the Real Madrid defender, who was seen leaving the pitch wearing Croatia‘s Luka Modric shirt. The two were opponents this Thursday but are each other’s teammates in Real Madrid.

Brazil‘s next game will be against Mexico, on June 17.

Sources: marca.com