"I don't see anything wrong with what Neymar did at Mestalla"
Neymar's father spoke about last weekend's incident during La COPE's 'Partidazo' programme: "It's a football match, not a tea party".
Manchester City - Barcelona Live!
Neymar's father was the special guest on last night's El Partidazo programme, broadcast by La COPE, during which he spoke extensively about his son and last weekend's incident at Mestalla in which Neymar Jr. was hit with a bottle thrown from the stands.
Row over events in Valencia: "What happened is normal in football matches between fans and players. It happens all the time and we are used to it"
Worried
What did you make of it: "I was a bit taken aback at first, but after watching the replay we saw it was a plastic bottle and while the impact looked bad, we knew he was ok".
How did Neymar react? "He was relaxed, it was an important win, and a tough game".
Neymar's celebrations at the Valencia end at Mestalla: "Football's like that. No one's going to be your best friend out out on the pitch - it's a football match, not a tea party; there's always going to be altercations on one side or the other, for us it's normal. If you look back at the game, all of the aggression was coming from the home fans. Barça only wanted to win the match, and my sion celebrated, there's nothing wrong with that".
Madrid bias
Do you think the Madrid-based media is unfair? “Who am I to say. That's no something which bothers us. With time, everything will be fine. Neymar first came to Spain with his own way of playing football and you know that it's not that he is trying to be provocative; it's his way of playing and now people are strating to see that for what it is - it's just him. Now we understand a lot more [about how things work] and with time, we can start enjoying him and his football”.
Overzealous defenders
Constantly getting kicked: “Yes, but he's nimble and an expert at jumping out of tackles. He's an intelligent player but he's not very strong. We all know that defenders are stronger than forwards and Neymar has to be clever and be one step ahead of them”.
Is Neymar happy? “Very much so. Neymar has been following Barça since he was a kid. He always wanted to come here. And Barça chose him. I am in charge of handling his career, but it's difficult for me to view my son just in terms of business. He's very happy in Barcelona”.
PSG: “I'm a bit annoyed with Wagner. He's an old friend but sometimes he talks too much. He spoke to a newspaper and praised Neymar without realizing the consequences. Wagner opens his mouth then I have to come out and defend my son"
