Neymar likes to ‘dive and exaggerate fouls’ blasts Mexico star ahead of last 16 clash
El Tri captain Andres Guardado tore into his Brazilian counterpart as they gear up for a knockout meeting in Samara
Neymar must be punished if he continues to dive at the World Cup, according to Mexico legend Andres Guardado.
The El Tri skipper, whose side face Neymar's Brazil in Samara in the last 16 on Monday, blasted the Barcelona forward for his antics so far, which include having a penalty reversed against him for exaggerating contact against Costa Rica.
Guardado said: "We all know Neymar, it's not up to me or us to judge, but the referees and Fifa.
"Now they have VAR they have to watch his style of play and the referee needs to be on top of it because we know he likes to exaggerate fouls, he likes to drop on the floor a lot."
The Costa Rica incident was immediately overturned and was one of the more agreed-upon decisions made by VAR at the tournament.
Fifa revealed yesterday that 335 decisions have been looked at by the review system, with 14 subsequently overturned and three upheld when referred to the on-field referee, claiming a 99.3 per cent success rate.
Guardado, 31, has been around the block on the international stage, winning his landmark 150th cap in the final Group F game against Sweden.
Mexico will be missing centre-back Hector Moreno for the game through suspension as they seek to end a run of six straight last 16 defeats at World Cups.
However, Guardado described facing five-time winners Brazil as the 'perfect scenario' for Mexico, who could have been facing Switzerland if they had managed a draw against the Swedes.
The Real Betis man said: "What better motivation can there be other than the fact that we're facing the game of our lives?
FROM RUSSIA WITH LIVE All the latest action, news, goals and gossip from the World Cup
"We're not going to have any excuses.
"If we'd finished first in the group - and with all respect to Switzerland, if we'd beaten Switzerland people would've said: 'Oh, it's because it's Switzerland'.
"So we're up against the perfect scenario against Brazil, the five-time champion.
"We're all really excited about this opportunity football has given us, a situation that can't get any better, and hopefully we're able to finally take this step."