Portugal defender João Cancelo says neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Neymar deserve the criticism they are receiving at this World Cup.
Ronaldo, 41, came under fire in the media after a lacklustrE performance in Portugal’s first game, a 1-1 draw with Congo DR. Neymar, 34, has not played for Brazil in their first two games due to a calf injury, leading critics to argue he should not have been included in the squad.
“I don’t think Neymar or Cristiano need to prove anything to anyone,” Cancelo told reporters.
“Their talent and what they’ve achieved in football speak for themselves. All that talk is just for show. Both Cristiano and Neymar know who they are and what they represent for their countries.”
Ronaldo joined Argentina captain Lionel Messi as the only players to have competed in a sixth World Cup. The Portugal captain is the men’s all-time leading scorer with 143 goals since making his national team debut in 2003.
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 128 appearances. He has not played for Brazil since suffering an ACL tear in October 2023 while on international duty.
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Jack Hendry has no fear of coming up against Neymar should the Brazil star return to action for the World Cup clash with Scotland on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old forward missed his side’s first two Group C games with a calf injury, but head coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed he is fit to play against the Scots in Miami.
As a Club Brugge player in the 2021-22 season, Hendry played in a Champions League game against Neymar when he was part of a Paris Saint-Germain forward line which also included Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
When the 31-year-old Scotland defender moved to Al-Ettifaq in 2023, Neymar joined him in Saudi Arabia by signing for Al-Hilal, although he has since moved to Brazilian side Santos.
Speaking at Scotland’s training base at Charlotte, North Carolina, Hendry was asked about the prospect of playing against Neymar again.
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The former Dundee and Celtic defender said calmly: “Yeah, no problem. Obviously, he was out in the league I was in [in Saudi Arabia].
“I’m quite comfortable coming up against Neymar and I look forward to it, it really should be a good battle.
“I think he got injured out in Saudi, he did his ACL, which was unfortunate, obviously I would have played against him more.
“I played against him in the Champions League when he was at PSG, obviously that was a good test.
“Obviously the front three at that time were Messi, Mbappé and Neymar. It’s a not bad front three so it was a good experience.
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“I think the first game, we did well. I think maybe 0-0 or 1-1, I can’t remember, but I think that was one of the first games they played together.
“So you need to be concentrated, playing against these kind of players, because one split second you switch off, they can punish you, so it was a good experience.
“You learn a lot from these moments, playing against these top calibre players.
“So I look forward to it and we’ll see if plays.”
Press Association contributed to this report.
