Neymar plans a year away from football after retirement – but cannot bear watching matches

Neymar says he intends to spend an entire year doing “absolutely nothing” after retiring from football, despite his continued enthusiasm for playing the game.

The 34-year-old, who began his professional career at 17, has also revealed that he is already thinking about life after football. While he has made no secret of his excitement about the good form being shown by his club Santos, Neymar wants an extended break once he ends his playing career.

Speaking to the Varanda Gourmet channel in an interview published by Brazilian network ge Globo, Neymar said: “Obviously, when I retire, I will spend an entire year without doing anything at all.”

He added: “I will live it this way: if I feel like playing football today, I will play. But if I do not feel like doing anything at all today, then I will do nothing.”

Neymar also explained that his passion for playing football does not extend to watching matches on television.

“No, I do not like it,” he said. “I like basketball, but I only watch it from time to time. I get angry when I watch football.”

The former Paris and Barcelona player said people often struggled to believe him when he spoke about his attitude towards watching the sport.

“When I talk about this in interviews or with my friends, nobody believes me,” Neymar said. “I love football, but I love playing it. Sitting on the sofa and turning on the television to watch a match is something I cannot do.”

He recalled becoming frustrated when other young players stayed with him in Paris and Barcelona and football dominated the television schedule at weekends.

“When the boys were staying with me in Paris and Barcelona, the television showed nothing but football matches on Saturdays and Sundays,” Neymar said.

“I would get extremely angry, and I would not even stay in the living room.”