Neymar: Brazil currently lacking cohesion

FIFA world rankings published on Thursday show the South Americans in a record-low 22nd place thanks to a lack of recent competitive action, though poor friendly results have not helped their cause.

Phil Scolari's team kick off their Confederations Cup campaign against Japan on June 15, and Barcelona new boy Neymar believes his country can use the competition to improve team cohesion.

"Entrosamento [team cohesion, unity] is what we lack on the pitch," he told the July 2013 issue of FourFourTwo. "It's what we're looking for, and what we can improve.

"There's not much time to make the team, but we are always reminding ourselves that this can happen quickly.

"And now we're going to have the preparation of the Confederations Cup. It is a good championship to the World Cup."

While Brazil team-mate Thiago Silva told this month's FourFourTwo that Brazil may need time to settle under Scolari, Neymar is confident the former Chelsea manager's experience of leading the team to glory in the 2002 World Cup will stand them in good stead.

"Big Phil is a great trainer and a 'big daddy' for everyone," he said. "It is a big honour to work with him.

"It helps for the experience. He'd like to pass all of this on to us, to help us even more. It's an advantage."

Read the full interview with Neymar in the July 2013 issue of FourFourTwo digitally and in print. The issue also features an exclusive interview with Wayne Rooney, and looks at the duo's 12 months that will define their careers ahead of the World Cup. The magazine also goes behind the scenes at St George's Park and talks to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dejan Stankovic.

Interview: Dom Phillips

Nick Moore

Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.