RIO DE JANEIRO, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The head trainer of Brazil's national team has sounded a warning to the Selecao's World Cup rivals by declaring Neymar a more complete player after his first season at Barcelona.
According to Paulo Paixao, Neymar is better now than during last year's Confederations Cup, when he led Brazil to victory by winning the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player.
"He has grown not only in the physical sense but also with more experience," Paixao said from the team's World Cup training base in Teresopolis. "That makes us more assured about his fitness. We are going to see a player who is sure of himself, mature and conscious of what he needs to do."
Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos for 57 million euros in June last year.
Despite suffering a series of injuries, he scored 17 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions in his debut season at the Camp Nou.
Brazil, drawn in Group A with Cameroon, Mexico and Croatia, begin their World Cup campaign against the latter in Sao Paulo on June 12.