"I need to analyze, to think a little more about what is good for me and for the national team," added the 30-year-old striker, visibly shaken by the elimination of his team, during his passage in the mixed zone of the Education City stadium in Doha, where the match was played.
Neymar assured that his possible departure from the Seleçao, if it were to materialize, would include all competitions: friendlies, South American qualifiers, Copa América and World Cup.
Brazil's "10" said in October 2021 that the World Cup in Qatar would be his last World Cup, because he did not know if he would have "the mental strength to continue playing football".
"It's very hard. I think it's worse today than what we felt at the last World Cup (2-1 defeat against Belgium in the quarter-finals)", explained the star of the Brazil and Paris SG after the elimination against Croatia.
"It's hard to find the words to describe this moment," he added.
"We fought, we fought, I'm proud of all my teammates, proud of the personality they have, that they face penalties. It's not easy to take on this exercise “, he continued.
Among the title favorites in Qatar, Brazil lost on penalties to Croatia and saw their dream of winning a sixth world title dashed.
"Ney" opened the scoring for Brazil in extra time (105+1) and joined Pelé as the top scorer in Seleçao history (77 goals).
But after equalizing by Bruno Petkovic (117th), the Croats pushed the Brazilians on penalties.
"Only those who try, make mistakes. Unfortunately, the ball didn't go in," Neymar said of the penalty shootout.
Scheduled as the fifth shooter, he could not take part, his team being eliminated before.
"For now, we have to mourn all that," said the Brazil star who had another painful farewell in his third and possibly last World Cup, after the failures in 2014 in Brazil (7-1 defeat against Germany in the semi-finals) and in 2018 in Russia (defeat against Belgium).
© 2022 AFP