Neymar: 'I apologized to Robinho and his family'
Neymar and Robinho were involved in an altercation during a Brazil team training session, which Neymar has since apologized for.
Brazil team players Neymar and Robinho were involved in an altercation during a training session. Neymar has spoken about the incident.
The incident occurred on May 3, when the 34-year-old striker was unhappy about being beaten by the 18-year-old winger, which Neymar took as disrespect. The situation escalated into a minor scuffle. According to eyewitnesses, Neymar may have initially provoked his opponent before hitting him.
'This is part of football life. Initially, the situation should have stayed within the team - everything started from a misunderstanding during training, I reacted excessively. After the incident, I immediately apologized: we talked and made up in the locker room. I have a lot of respect for him and feel a deep affection for him.'
'Such things happen in football: you can have a fight with your friend or teammate. I've had disagreements with my colleagues before - it's a normal situation. All this should have been resolved within the team. But the information reached people far from football reality, and they exaggerated the situation.'
'If a public apology is needed, here it is. I've already apologized to him and his family. Everything could have been different, but I overreacted. We both made mistakes, mine was just more serious', Neymar said, as quoted by ESPN.
