Lucas Paquetá comes to Neymar's defense after criticism in France

Midfielder Lucas Paquetá defended Neymar, his teammate in Brazil, on Tuesday from the recent criticism he received in France due to PSG's elimination in the Champions League and defeats in that country's league.

“Neymar, above all, is a great person, a great professional, who has incredible talent and who, without a doubt, is the best player in the Brazilian national team,” said the Olympique de Lyon flyer at a press conference in Teresópolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where the 'Seleção' is concentrated.

“Having him with us is a privilege. Personally, when I have Neymar by my side, I feel much stronger, as do my teammates. And he also feels the same way when he is in the national team, we are more motivated, he hugs more, we become stronger,” he added.

The '10' of the 'Canarinha' has been the target of criticism from the French press and PSG fans in recent weeks amid the elimination in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid and two defeats in the last three games of the Parisians in the French league.

In the next league match after the fall with the 'merengues', PSG's 3-0 win against Girondins Bordeaux, which consolidated them at the top of the local tournament, the Brazilian star was booed by the fans.

“PSG was eliminated and of course the press and fans are going to complain about it. He has been recovering from injury, he is getting stronger and stronger to help us in the national team,” said Paqueta, partner of 'Ney' in the creation of Brazil.

Neymar is one of the main novelties of Tite's call for the last double date of the South American qualifier for the Qatar World Cup, to which Brazil is already qualified.

The star missed the previous two games due to injury, but is expected to be against Chile on Thursday at Maracana and against the eliminated Bolivia on Tuesday in La Paz.

On the duel against the Chileans, who need to add up to get closer to the qualifying or repechage zone, Paquetá said that the five-time champions, undefeated leaders of the tie, consider it a “difficult game” of “preparation” for Qatar.

“Regardless of their motivation, ours is very clear, and it's the World Cup, it's the preparation. We talk about it in our dressing room, in our day to day, in training, to take it to the field of play no matter what the opponent is,” he explained.

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