Neymar Jr: "The fans give everything to motivate us'
Before flying out for the World Cup in Russia, Neymar Jr sat down and talked with us about his first season with Paris, also discussing his injury and Paris' domestic quadruple.
Neymar, how was your first season with Paris?
"I'm very happy to have accepted the challenge at Paris Saint-Germain. I'm also very happy with the trophies we won, happy to have been able to help in whatever way I could. To have contributed even though, unfortunately, I had this injury at the end of the season. But still. I was able to participate in the success. I'm really very happy about that. Paris had been caught by Monaco the season before last, but we managed to turn things around and bring the trophy home with us."
Paris dominated the league and scored a huge number of goals this season…
"The number of goals we scored this season was incredible. We scored more than 100, and we're very happy with the commitment of every player and of the team as a whole. We notched some big scorelines but we always respected our opponents. We love scoring goals and we love to attack, so we couldn’t have asked for anything better than the big wins we got."
Were you surprised by how good the team's football is?
"No. I already knew how good the team was; I knew the quality that Paris' team possessed. Everyone knows the players in this team and the quality that exists in our team. Unfortunately, our biggest objective, the Champions League, slipped through our fingers. But on the other hand, we managed to win a number of other trophies so it was nonetheless a good season for us."
Were you able to follow the teams' end-of-season results as you recovered from your injury?
"It's not the same thing to watch a match at home on the TV as it is watching it here at the stadium. At home, I suffer a bit more, because you don't have all the emotions that you have at the Parc des Princes. We know that the fans give everything to motivate us; the atmosphere is always good. But sadly I had to watch on from a distance following my injury. Still, that didn't change how I supported the team."
But you did get the chance to celebrate all the trophies with your teammates at the end of the season!
"I was very happy to come back and have a chance to share all that in the dressing room and to bounce back strongly after this injury. To be able to recuperate well and celebrate our season - which was a good season that saw us win very title on offer in France - was great. We may have missed out on one trophy in particular, but there's always next time…"