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The Brazilian legend believes his compatriot deserves all the praise he receives but hopes to protect to starlet from media pressure.
Brazil legend Pele says he is happy with Santos after his former club opened a section of their museum to current star Neymar.
The 19-year-old was awarded with the Ferenc Puskas award for the best goal of 2011, earning the Brazil international the homage from his club, and Pele feels that Neymar has fully earned such recognition.
"Of course it is earned. At the moment, there is no players, at least here in Brazil, who can be compared to Neymar. Fortunately, he was raised here at Santos," Pele told Globoesporte.
The 71-year-old went on to speak about the growing media attention surrounding Neymar, stating that the youngster needs help in order to not crack under pressure.
"We must protect Neymar from all of this, so we don't get disappointed."
Neymar has been consistently linked with a move to Europe, but insists that he will stay at his current club until 2014, when his contract expires.
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'The King' was in the English capital to launch his new sports lifestyle collection, bringing out the stars and a number of eye-catching quotes in the process
Brazil and Santos legend Pele celebrated his 71st birthday in London in typical outspoken style this week, hailing the Premier League as Europe's top division and branding Lionel Messi an "incomplete" player.
The three-time World Cup winner, who is in the UK for the global launch of his new sports lifestyle collection The Beautiful Revolution, told Goal.com: "I would love to play with Lionel Messi. But Messi is an incomplete player because he can't use his head. Also I played football for 20 years, Messi has only played for several years."
He added: "If there is one player in the world today I would love to play with it is Neymar."
Pele was speaking at a special drinks reception held in London's Covent Garden to mark his 71st birthday, with guests including Rio Ferdinand, brother Anton, ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona defender Patrick Andersson and Pele's 1970 World Cup opponent Terry Cooper, formerly of England and Leeds United.
Brazil's leading all-time goalscorer said he was delighted to be in England and hailed the country's top-flight division: "The English Premier League is the best league in Europe, better than La Liga."
When asked about who his toughest opponent was, Pele, who faced the likes of Bobby Moore and Giacinto Facchetti in his playing days, joked: "Sylvester Stallone during the filming of Escape to Victory. He was very strong."
The Rocky star played an American POW-turned-goalkeeper in the World War Two film in which he co-starred with Michael Caine and Pele amongst others.
As a birthday present, Pele was presented by PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes and Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a special lifetime award: a glittering 18-carat gold-plated football boot.
Barnes said: "Alex is one of the best young players in the English Premier League. He made his debut at 16, and if he achieves a fraction of what Pele did he will have a fantastic career.
"Everyone remembers Pele's Brazil teams from 1957-70, and the World Cup victories of '58, '62 and '70.
"Only a few things are memorable from my childhood: the Apollo moon landings, Muhammad Ali's boxing fights... and Pele. On behalf of the PFA, we are delighted to present this award as a symbol of our esteem."
Guests at the London event were then shown the Pele sport brand's Spring Summer '12 collection, featuring the launch of three distinct ranges - Pelé Story, Pelada and Performance.
The most heralded and eagerly-anticipated from these collections is the "revolutionary, ground-breaking, ultra-light" Trinity 3E football boot, which promises to "maximise a player's game and speed potential by training your muscles as you play."
Check out all of Pele's new sports lifestyle collection at www.pele-sports.com
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The veteran shot-stopper has been allowed to return to the San Siro after sustaining a minor thigh injury in Friday's 1-0 international friendly victory over Costa Rica
Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar has been confirmed as an absentee for Brazil's upcoming friendly against Mexico.
The 32-year-old custodian picked up a thigh problem in the second half of Brazil's 1-0 friendly victory against Costa Rica on Friday, being replaced by Jefferson on 74 minutes.
Test scans have revealed that the veteran has only suffered a minor knock, but he has been granted leave by the national team in order not to aggravate the problem.
"I spoke with [coach] Mano Menezes and we decided it was prudent to allow him to return to the club [Inter] on Sunday," Brazil doctor Jose Runco told Globoesporte.
"He has had this injury before, so it is better if he continues the treatment there [in Milan] so that it does not get worse."
Jefferson, who is on the books of Botafogo, will replace Julio Cesar in the net for Brazil against Mexico in Torreon on Tuesday.
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The Brazil international playmaker was sidelined with a thigh injury, but is back in training and will be set to feature for the Brasileiro club in Japan come December
Santos coach Muricy Ramalho has confirmed that playmaker Ganso is close to returning to training with the Brazilian team, and will be fit and ready to compete in the Club World Cup.
The Brazil international has been sidelined with a thigh injury, and the Copa Libertadores winners were under threat of being without the 21-year-old for the December tournament in Japan.
However, the Brasileiro side's manager has confirmed that the attacking midfielder is making good progress, and should be back playing soon.
"Ganso is in the final phase of treatment, doing strength training at the gym before returning to the field," Ramalho told the club's official website.
"He is recovering from [the] muscle strain. I believe that next week he will train [with the team]. He has had a long time without playing, so we have to take it easy. He'll be back working on the pitch, but [there is] still no estimate for when he will return to play," he stated.
Ramalho went on to explain that Ganso was an integral part of the Vila Belmiro first-team, and that he will not be rushed back into action.
"We have to be calm and take all the necessary care because the player is super-important to us. It is important that he returns in time to his best of condition," he concluded.
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Mano Menezes’ side struggled to get a single shot on target in the entirety of the first half but a strike from the highly sought after Santos sensation settled the contest
Neymar netted his eighth goal in 14 appearances for Brazil when his solitary second half effort gave the Selecao a laboured 1-0 friendly win over 10-man Costa Rica in San Jose.
With no qualifying campaign to take part in for the 2014 World Cup as the host nation, Brazil opted to begin their build-up to the finals against Central American opposition.
But it was Costa Rica who made the better start to the contest and created the first real chance after just two minutes when Heiner Mora’s floating cross found Winston Parks but the striker, right infront of goal, failed to control as the ball skidded off his shin.
Just a minute later, the action swung the other end when Neymar released Fred through on goal, but the Fluminense striker smashed his shot over the bar. For the next 15 minutes, it was the five-time world champions who dominated proceedings while the hosts threatened on occasion on the break. But apart from a few shots off target by both sides and some fancy footwork from Neymar and Ronaldinho in particular, clear-cut chances were few and far between.
Mora did have the home fans up on their feet just before the half hour when he charged towards goal before unleashing a fierce 20-yard drive which flew just wide of Julio Cesar’s right post. That proved to be the last meaningful sight on goal for the half but tempers flared when Neymar and Ronaldinho were kicked and wrestled to the ground one time too often as the first period came to a disappointing end despite a promising start.
The second half kicked off with Costa Rica again presented with an early goalscoring opportunity. Bryan Oviedo was allowed space down the left flank to run with the ball into the box, but he dragged his eventual shot across the face of goal just wide.
Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas was forced into his first real save five minutes before the hour mark but it was a routine catch from a speculative Ronaldinho effort from out wide. Despite only registering their first shot on target, Brazil took the lead against the run of play.
Dani Alves whipped in a cross which just evaded Fred and distracted Navas at his near post, allowing the ball to bounce to Neymar and the Santos star easily stabbed in his shot from close range.
The goal injected much-needed confidence into the Samba stars and they had a double chance on 72 minutes to increase their lead. First, Fred’s header from a Ronaldinho cross was clawed off the line by Navas and from the follow-up, Neymar’s thunderbolt from 25 yards cannoned off the crossbar.
Costa Rica’s hopes of a comeback were washed away when Mora was sent off in the 84th minute for a sliding tackle on Jonas on an increasing rain-soaked pitch. Despite the numerical advantage, Mano Menezes' men failed to add to the scoreline and had to settle for a marginal 1-0 win.
Brazil will face a sterner test on Wednesday when they take on 2011 Gold Cup champions Mexico in another friendly.
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