"Even though he is still
young, Neymar is well aware of what he means for the world of football and for
the Brazilian game in particular. He is the one player the Brazilian people
believe in and he has everything to make history. I think because of his age,
though he still has others to topple, Neymar will become top goalscorer in
Brazil's history, surpassing Pelé. It wouldn't hurt if he leapfrogged me in the
list. I left my mark on history and now it's his turn."
—Brazil legend Romário
Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. was born
on February 5, 1992, in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil. The son of a former
professional soccer player, Neymar followed in his father's footsteps by
playing street games and futsal, an indoor version of the game. He joined the
Portuguesa Santista youth club in 1999, and within a few years was one of the
most highly regarded young talents in the country.
Neymar began playing football at an
early age and he was soon spotted by Santos FC who offered him a contract in
2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in the past,
produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and
Alex. He also joined the likes of Pepe, Pelé and Robinho in starting out his
career at Peixe (the football club's nickname). While in the youth academy,
Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends in the process. He has
one sister that did not play football.
When he turned 14, he traveled to
Madrid in Spain in order to go through some trials at the Merengues and
according to the reports he was immediately accepted. However, Santos FC
managed to hold on to their crown jewelry because the Brazilian club president
at the time, Marcelo Teixeira, offered 1 million euros to Neymar‘s father on
the condition that the prodigious player stayed at the club until he turned
professional.
Neymar had his debut in Santos
shortly after he turned 17 (March 7, 2009), in a away match against Itápolis.
His first goal as professional player arrived one week later on March 15
(2009), in a 3-0 win against Mogi Mirim. During his first years in the first
team, Neymar shared most of the media focus with his good friend and teammate
until 2012, Paulo Henrique Ganso, who is now playing for São Paulo. Neymar
didn’t get any silverware during his first year as a professional footballer,
since Santos finished 2nd in the “Campeonato Paulista” and 12nd in the “Campeonato
Brasileiro“. In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.
In 2010, Santos won the “Campeonato
Paulista” for the first time since Neymar had joined the squad and together
with Robinho, Paulo Henrique Ganso and André, the team was often called as
“Meninos da Vila“, in a clear reference to the fact that several key players
had been developed in the club’s youth ranks. Later that year, Neymar won his
second career title and this time it was the “Copa do Brasil” trophy (the
Brazilian Cup). The Brazilian forward became the competition’s top goalscorer,
with 11 goals. His performances were already impressing a lot of scouts from
European big clubs by then and during the Old Continent’s summer transfer
season in August, Chelsea has allegedly made a move on Neymar that would end up
failing miserably after Pelé‘s intervention. The all-time legend talked with
the Brazilian youngster and convinced him that the best decision at that time
was to stay put in Santos. The Brazilian club finished 8th in the “Campeonato
Brasileiro” at the end of that year.
The 2011 year kicked off with all
attention turned on to Neymar Jr. He was already being regarded as the best
footballer playing in Brazil and there was a big amount of expectation to see
how he would keep improving in the months and years ahead. Santos won the
“Campeonato Paulista” for the second year in a row, the club’s 19th state
title. However, the biggest accomplishment took place in the “Copa dos
Libertadores“, with Santos beating Peñarol in the final and Neymar scoring one
of the winning goals, during the second leg 2-1 win. The Brazilian club were
chasing that trophy for 48 years… Neymar scored the best goal of his short
career that year, in a game against Ronaldinho and Atletico Paranaense. That
goal allowed him to win the FIFA Ferenc Puskás award for the best goal of 2011,
in a ceremony that was held a few months later in Switzerland, in January of
2012. Before that and deep in December 2011, Santos faced Barcelona in the FIFA
Club World Cup and basically got crushed by the Spanish giants, with an
impressive 4-0 final result. Neymar recognized that Barcelona had a far
superior team and that his side had been taught how to play football that day.
That was probably the first big step Neymar has made to open the doors towards
signing for Barcelona sooner or later.
In 2012 Neymar led Santos to some
more success in the “Campeonato Paulista“, for the third straight time. On May
of that year, Neymar became Santos highest goalscorer since the “Pelé era”,
after scoring another 2 goals against Bolivar, in the “Copa dos Libertadores”
and reaching his 106th goal for the club. Santos wouldn’t get lucky in that
competiton though and got thrown out by Corinthians, in a two-leg semi-finals. The second trophy Neymar won in
2012 was the “Recopa Sul-Americana“, after beating Universidad de Chile in the
final.
Neymar scored his 100th
professional goal on his 20th birthday in 2012 and finished the year with a
career-best total of 43. Although Santos won its third straight league title,
the young star again was subject to criticism when Brazil lost the 2012 Summer
Olympics gold-medal game to an underdog Mexico team. In May
2013, Neymar announced he was making the leap to Europe with a transfer to FC
Barcelona, a powerful club that featured superstar Argentine striker Lionel
Messi and several members of the Spanish national team. The Spanish club paid
50 million euros for the Brazilian star, for a 5-year deal that will allow
Neymar to earn 7 million euros per year, plus a 1 million euros bonus if he
ends up winning the FIFA Balon d’Or.
As for 2013, we can safely say that
it definitely allowed Neymar to also confirm his star player status in the
Brazilian National Team. The Confederations Cup was awaited with high expectation
and Neymar didn’t defraud anyone, especially in the final against Spain. Brazil
beat the current European and World champions and Neymar performed at his very
best level. Earlier in the year, Neymar has also announced that he was on a
relationship with a new girlfriend, the Brazilian actress from Globo, Bruna
Marquezine.
Neymar's performance shined in the
2014 World Cup on his home turf of Brazil, but was cut short before the finals.
On July 4, 2014, minutes before Brazil won its quarter-final match against Colombia,
Neymar was carried from the field in a stretcher in tears of agony after
breaking a bone in his back resulting from a challenge by Colombia’s defender
Juan Zuniga. Reports have indicated the injury will take weeks to heal and the
athlete will be sidelined for the remainder of the tournament. Brazil's hope
for the World Cup title was dashed when they lost their next semifinal match to
Germany 7-1.
Neymar primarily plays as either a
central striker, winger or occasionally as an attacking midfielder and has been
described as "a true phenomenon". He often plays as a left sided
forward for both club and country in the team's 4–3–3 formation, drifting
infield due to his energetic pace and playmaking skills. Neymar's dribbling
skills and playmaking ability are reminiscent of compatriot Ronaldinho. His
common traits are his creativity, passing, finishing, dribbling, feints and
technique, being described as both "electric" and
"explosive". He commented on his attributes saying: "I'm always
trying to perfect everything – dribbling, shooting, headers and control. You
can always improve". Neymar stated that he has been inspired by Lionel
Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and Wayne Rooney.
Neymar, playing for Brazil in 2011,
has been compared to compatriots Pelé and Ronaldinho. The media have often
drawn comparisons between Neymar and Brazilian Legend Pelé, as Neymar possesses
similar attributes and also like Pelé came from the Santos Youth Academy and
turned heads with his skill. Neymar has said that Pelé is his "role
model" but also saying: "I don't like to make comparison with
Pelé". On 11 April 2012, during the celebrations for the 100 years of
Santos, when asked by journalists about Lionel Messi, Pelé said he felt that
Neymar was better: "Now everyone is talking about Messi; he is a star. But
[to be the best ever] he must first become better than Neymar," Pelé said.
"At the moment Messi is just more experienced."
Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho had
also tipped Neymar on becoming the best player in the world: “Neymar is young
though, and I can't explain how special he will become. In the next two or
three seasons he will become the best player." Another Brazilian star,
retired World Cup winner Ronaldo also believes that Neymar can become the best
in the world: "Logically, Messi is better right now but Neymar is a great
talent who will show the world that he will be number one". Former Real
Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano has also praised Neymar, stating:
"I like Neymar a lot. Many of his individual actions result in a goal and
often it's a move that only seems to be happening with him on the pitch."
FC Barcelona star Xavi also stated that Neymar "is a great player, has a
very good attitude, and will go on to be the best player in the world." However,
Neymar also has been known and criticised for his diving when tackled. For
which Pelé has told: "He is a player with a body that can't take a lot of
hits. A lot of times he will fall
because he can't do anything else, but he was overdoing it." He continued:
"Even when he is fouled, he can't make a spectacle out of it".
Neymar's increasing reputation led
both the media and former great players to draw comparisons between Neymar and
FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, which Neymar has commented on saying:
"Messi is above everyone, there is no use comparing me with him. He is the
best player in the world and I always get inspired when I watch good football."Ronaldo
said: “Neymar is a great talent, the best we have in Brazil. He is very similar
to Messi.” Zico said: “I see Neymar like a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Messi, the
type who appears and makes things happen.” After his hat-trick against
Internacional 3–1 in Copa Libertadores and Messi's five goals scored in the
Champions League, Neymar said: "I am a Messi fan. I was told what he did
today. I support him to score a lot of nice goals so I can keep copying and
imitating him.
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