World Cup 2018: 'Neymar Jr goes down easily because he is faster than most defenders,' says FC Pune City star Marcelinho
Russia 2018 has been a World Cup full of surprises, but one team that has kept their performances at par with the massive expectations on their shoulders is Brazil. After a disappointing exit in 2014 World Cup in front of their home crowd, the Selecao have shown all the potential to win the World Cup for a record sixth time.
To add to that, the exit of a number of top teams like Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Portugal have seemingly made the road to the final easier than before.
In addition to that, with the likes of England, France, Uruguay and Belgium left as the remaining contenders, the top bets would be on Neymar Jr and his me, as we enter the quarterfinal stage of the mega-event.
However, Neymar himself has been under the scanner in Russia. While he is one of their highest goalscorers with two goals and an assist to his name in this world cup, the Paris Saint-Germain forward has come under heavy criticism for playacting.
Despite these instances though, Neymar's compatriot Marcelinho, who plays for FC Pune City in the Indian Super League, believes that the left winger goes down
"Neymar normally goes down because he is not heavy. He is faster than his opponents. Only proper tackles can stop him," Marcelinho said to Sportskeeda ahead of Brazil's crucial quarterfinal match against Belgium.
"The team enjoys having him around and try to manage things in the best possible manner," he continued.
Despite the famed attack line which consists of the likes of Philip Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Willian and Gabriel Jesus, Marcelinho believes that it is the Brazilian defence that has made a lot of difference so far.
"They (Belgium) will be afraid of the Brazilian defence. They could even take a defensive approach to the game, in order to counter the strength the Brazilians," he said. "The coach mentality with motivation and he make the lines compact and the team strong."
Incidentally, Marcelinho, who had ended as the top scorer in the 2016 edition of the ISL with 10 goals for Delhi Dynamos, believes that his compatriots could very well run amock in the middle of the park agaainst the Belgians, in order to gain a big victory in the quarterfinal.
The FC Pune City forward predicts that the Selecao can win by a 3-0 margin if things go their way.