Neymar does not consider England to be a major contender to win next year's World Cup.
The 21-year-old forward is expected to line-up for Brazil when they face England at the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Brazil will host the 2014 finals tournament but Neymar does not believe England to be one of the favourites.
Neymar, who recently left Santos for Barcelona, told The Sun: "I have respect for a lot of the England players as they have achieved great things at their clubs.
"But, as a national team, I don't look at England and think they are going to be a real threat at the World Cup.
"We want to win the Cup in front of our home fans and the two nations I look at as a real threat are Germany and Spain.
"After that it's a group including Argentina, Holland and Italy and one or two more.
"But England I don't even think about."
Yet Neymar still considers Sunday's game against England this weekend as being important.
He added: "It's vital we impress the coach. There are only 11 places in the team for the opening game and each player needs to prove he's worth one of those places."
As for moving to Barcelona instead of Real Madrid, Manchester City or Chelsea, he said: "My family spoke to me about joining a club where you could not just win things but where there is stability.
"I didn't want to play for a team that changed its coach every season."
Brooking, the Football Association's director of football development, agreed with Rio Ferdinand's comments that England's youth players were technically backward but said a strategy was in place to fix that, though it would be many years before the benefits are seen.
A new academy system, the EPPP has been launched, but Brooking said clubs still needed to employ better coaches on a full-time basis and good salaries.
Speaking in Rio de Janeiro ahead of England's friendly with Brazil, Brooking said: "On the clubs, we want them focusing on making the 16-year-old English players better than they have been.
"We believe you need full-time coaches. At the moment, there is an issue in that those full-time places are being offered at pretty low salaries, around 15-16 grand, and they need to be recognised for the quality and getting ?40,000 to ?50,000."
Brooking believes top-flight clubs should have at least two full-time coaches in the 12-16 age group and two in the 5-11 group, at a cost of ?160,000 to ?200,000 per year.
"In the scheme of things, that's not asking too much to invest in quality coaches in those age groups so that the 16-year-olds are going to be much better than they are at the moment," he added.
"That's going to be our next big challenge.
"The salaries are definitely too low and we need to recognise coaching in the young age groups as a proper career for a full-time role.
"In those lower age groups, most of them are part time and they are not really being supported as they should be.
"Germany did it about 10 years ago and spent about 50million euros on it. I was at a workshop last August when (Germany head coach) Joachim Low was talking about it and I said to Roy (Hodgson) 'that's where we need to be in 10 years' time'."
Manchester United defender Ferdinand, who quit international football earlier this month, was one of the so-called 'golden generation' of English footballers who blossomed at the start of the last decade but failed to deliver on the big stage.
Ferdinand said on Twitter: "(In the) last 10 years when have England played consistently well? A coaching strategy for our young teams/kids needs to be implemented to see change.
"In most PL teams retaining the ball is done best by foreign players in the team... they are taught to pass to a man with a man on."
FA chairman David Bernstein insisted change is on its way.
He said: "Rio Ferdinand should know that we are putting a huge amount of work in to that (youth development).
"We are implementing a complete programme of youth development football within the leagues, with the EPPP system and with the opening of St George's Park. All those things are in hand.
"They are not producing the results yet but they will do. I am sure when he reflects on it Rio and others will appreciate that this is happening, it's not talk about what might happen."
Less than two months before his 40th birthday, Phillips was doing what he has done best for the best part of two decades on Monday afternoon when he blasted home the penalty which won the Championship play-off final for Palace.
Defender Delaney played his part in the memorable extra-time victory which means he will enjoy Premier League football next season, a fact with which he is still coming to terms after joining up with the Republic of Ireland squad the following day.
But the 31-year-old has no doubts about how good a role model the former England striker is to his younger - and that is all of them - team-mates.
Delaney said: "The man is phenomenal. Just his persona, his calmness. He is just - you talk about professional, the man is phenomenal.
"Olly [Palace boss Ian Holloway] doesn't bring him in - he only comes in maybe a couple of days a week, but when he comes in, he is on it. You know he is not at home drinking tea and biscuits, you know he has to be doing his own bits and pieces.
"If I had two or three days off, it would take me a while to get going again. But I tell you, he comes in training and he is on it every day, every day.
"He is so sharp and he is so quick still for 40 years of age, maybe not over 20 yards, but over five, 10 yards, he is still extremely sharp. And the man can finish, as his career is testament to. He really can finish.
"The example he sets to the younger lads - I look at him and obviously, I am pushing on a little bit now as well, but to look at him at 40 and the appetite that he still has for the game and the love that he still has for the game...
"I spoke to him after the game and I think he is even considering staying on another year, which would take him to just shy of 41 if he did play.
"You are laughing, but it's amazing. But he's a good guy, he's a genuinely good guy and his calmness and his persona around the changing room are something else."
Delaney's season still has 11 days to run with the Republic facing Georgia and Spain in friendlies either side of Friday night's World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands.
He will then head off for a well-earned break before returning for an exciting pre-season and a new Premier League challenge.
However, asked if he might follow in Phillips' footsteps and carry on into his forties, he replied: "If I am playing at 41, lads, you have my permission to come and kill me, and that's the truth."
