Former Brazil striker Ronaldo Nazário believes the Brazilian national team must find a style of play that revolves around Vinicius and Neymar if they are to be in a position to win the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
In an interview with Romário on Youtube, Ronaldo Nazario spoke about how the Brazilian national team should play, with Neymar and Vinicius as the main references. “Ney is an important pillar. Vinicius is also an important pillar. We have two great players. We have to start from there, find a way for the team to play for them.”
In his opinion, the current Santos striker, fresh from a serious knee injury and still far from his best, and the Real Madrid winger need to have “more freedom” in the Canarinha so that they can perform at the highest level.
About Neymar he said that his quality “makes up for” the structural problems that the national team is experiencing and Brazilian football in general. “He is a figure who inspires youngsters, who has a lot of personality on the pitch, takes risks, tries, is not afraid of kicks and has a goal. I hope he comes back well because, if he is well, Brazil will find a good direction,” he said.
On Vinicius, he stressed that what he does at Real Madrid is “crazy”, although “he doesn’t manage to perform in the same way in the national team”, he said. According to him, that correlation of performance depends “a lot” on the coach, a position currently held by Brazilian Dorival Junior, as he is the person in charge of “looking for the best positions and the best players”.