• World Cup

Neymar dismisses England

ESPN staff
June 1, 2013

Brazil superstar Neymar has shot down England's World Cup hopes by admitting he does not feel threatened by the Three Lions' squad.

England have just touched down in South America for the glamour friendly against the Brazilian team, the second time the two sides have met this year.

But despite Roy Hodgson's men claiming a 2-1 victory at Wembley in Febuary, the newly signed Barcelona forward has welcomed the visitors to his country by dismissing their chances of glory in next year's showpiece event.

"I have respect for a lot of the England players as they have achieved great things at their clubs," Neymar told the Sun. "But, as a national team, I don't look at England and think they are going to be a real threat at the World Cup.

"We want to win the World Cup in front of our home fans and the two nations I look at as a real threat are Germany and Spain.

"After that it's a group including Argentina, Holland, Italy and one or two more. But England I don't even think about."

And Neymar wants to prove his point when the two teams open the new Maracana Stadium on Sunday and, along the way, seal his spot in Luiz Felipe Scolari's World cup squad.

"It's a big game for us on Sunday because we want to open the new stadium with a win," he said.

"The most important thing is we impress the coach though. There are only 11 places in the team for the opening game at the World Cup and each player needs to prove to the coach he's worth being in one of those places."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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