Neymar has insisted that he is not looking to surpass Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, as the world’s best player.
The Argentine captain has been named the football’s best on four occasions in the last six years, but Neymar has been tipped to challenge Messi for the prize this year.
“It is not my goal to try to surpass Messi,” the 23-year-old told SporTV.
“I am just trying to follow my own career path. I want to keep on doing the things that I have been doing, to win titles and to achieve my goals.
“But I am not attempting to be better than any one else. My goal is to keep improving myself.”
Neymar and Messi will be on opposing sides, when Brazil faces Argentina in the qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup and the Selecao captain has promised to help his team win.
He said: “Messi is a big star. It is not a good thing to be playing against him, but not necessarily a bad thing either.
“But I will do everything within my powers to win. It will be a tough game, but the truth is that all qualifiers will be tough.”
Brazil will be without Neymar for their first two qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela, because of his ban following a red card at the Copa America.
Comments