'Neymar's diving makes us laugh'

Brazil forward Neymar's playacting makes people laugh, former Netherlands forward Marco van Basten said on Friday.

Speaking in his role as FIFA's chief officer for development, Van Basten said the Brazilian player needed to take a look at himself.

"It's not a good attitude in general. You have to try to do your best and be sporting and if you act too much, it is not going to help," he told reporters. "That's a point in which I think he should personally understand his situation."

He added: "It's always nice if we have some humour in the game and he makes people laugh and that is positive."

Neymar was undoubtedly the victim of some tough tackling at the World Cup but his playacting and diving made him a figure of mockery, especially in Europe.

However, Carlos Alberto Parreira, the head of FIFA's technical study group at the World Cup, said Neymar was often on the wrong end of some rough treatment.

"He gets knocked around a lot, he suffers a lot of fouls, sometimes he goes down unintentionally. He attracts this sort of publicity but for us (Brazil) he is still a player who makes a difference," said Parreira, who coached Brazil at the 1994 and 2006 World Cups.

Brazil's bid for a sixth world title ended when they lost 2-1 to Belgium in the quarterfinals.

Van Basten is the latest in a series of high-profile footballers to criticise Neymar, with Brazil legends Ronaldo and Cafu both saying recently that they expected more from the 26-year-old.