Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Portuguese pronunciation: [nejˈmaʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈsɐ̃tuj ˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5 February 1992), commonly known as Neymar, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team, as a forward or winger.

At the age of 19, Neymar won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award, after coming third in 2010.[2] He followed this up by winning it again in 2012. In 2011 Neymar received nominations for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, where he came 10th, and the FIFA Puskás Award, which he won.[3] He is known for his acceleration, speed, dribbling and finishing. His playing style has earned him critical acclaim, with fans, media and former players drawing comparisons to Argentine forward Lionel Messi and former Brazil player Pelé, who has called Neymar "an excellent player".[4]

Neymar joined Santos in 2003 and, after rising through the ranks, was promoted to their first team squad. He made his debut for Santos in 2009, and was voted the Best Young Player of the 2009 Campeonato Paulista. Further honours followed, with Neymar being voted best player as Santos won the 2010 Campeonato Paulista, and also being top scorer in the 2010 Copa do Brasil with 11 goals. He finished the 2010 season with 42 goals in 60 games as his club achieved the Double. Neymar was again voted best player of the year in 2011 as his side retained the state title and Santos also winning the 2011 Copa Libertadores in which Neymar scored 6 goals in 13 appearances. He also played a key role in securing aContinental Double for his team, Santos' first since 1963. He received the Bronze Ball in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, with Santos making it to the final, where they were defeated 4–0 by Barcelona.[5][6]

Neymar is a Brazilian international, having represented Brazil at Under-17, Under-20 and senior levels. On 10 August 2010, at the age of 18, he made his debut for the Seleção in a friendly match against the United States; he scored from a header in the 28th minute, contributing to Brazil's 2–0 win. He was the top scorer of the 2011 South American Youth Championship with nine goals, including two in the final, in the 6–0 win against Uruguay, helping Brazil to win their 11th title in the competition.

Early life

Neymar da Silva Santos, Júnior was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar da Silva, Sr. and Nadine Santos. He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow.[7] Neymar comments on his father's role "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and my family."[8] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.[9]

In 1992, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista.[10] Then, in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos FC.[11]With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to the Vila Belmiro. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 25,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed a full professional contract, getting upgraded to the Santos first team and even receiving sponsorships.

Club career

Santos Youth

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 Bruno Coutinho Martins, Clodoaldo, Diego Walsh, 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).[13] While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends in the process.

At the age 14, he travelled to Spain in order to join Real Madrid, at the time when Real had stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Robinho. Neymar passed the trial for his potential move, but Santos reportedly paid 1 million reals to Neymar to keep him at the club. Neymar progressed through the youth ranks rapidly and he was finally awarded a promotion to the Santos first team in 2009.[citation needed]

2009 season

Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old; he was brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste.[9] The following week he scored his first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim. One month later, on 11 April, Neymar scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg.[14]In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to the Corinthians.[15] In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.[9]

2010 season

Neymar continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April 2010, he scored five goals for Santos in an 8–1 rout of Guarani in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian Cup.[16] Following the 2010 Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in 19 games,[13] the club were crowned champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo André in the finals.[17] Neymar was subsequently given the award for the best player in the competition.[18] Neymar's performances for Santos have drawn comparisons to other Brazilians, including Robinho and Brazilian legend Pelé.

In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier League team West Ham United,[20] and later an offer from another English club Chelsea, reported to be in the region of £20 million.[21] Despite Santos unwillingness to sell and Neymar himself insisting "I'm focused only on Santos",[22] his agent, Wagner Ribeiro, indicated that Neymar’s career was elsewhere, stating "He wants to become the best player in the world. The chances of him doing that while playing in Brazil are zero."[21] Although one year later Neymar admitted, in an interview with theDaily Telegraph, that he had been happy with Chelsea's interest in him as it was a "dream" of his "to play in Europe", whilst also stating that at the time it had been the right decision to stay in Brazil.[23]

On 30 November 2010, Santos sold a 5% share of future transfer fees that he would receive to an investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S.A. (TEISA), for R$ 3,549,900 (€1.5 million).[24]The previous year, his family had sold a 40% stake in Neymar's sporting rights to the DIS Esporte group who had been a long-term strategic partner of Santos' football club.

2011 season

2012 seasonIn September 2011, Santos president Luis Ribeiro threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA following reports that they had attempted to sign Neymar to a pre-contract agreement and denied that such an agreement was in place.[33] On 9 November 2011, Neymar and Santos agreed to a contract extension that would see the player stay with the club until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The deal reportedly increased Neymar's wages by 50%, to the levels that top European clubs would be paying him.[34] On 14 December 2011, Neymar scored the opening goal for Santos as they defeatedKashiwa Reysol 3–1 in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan, but failed to score against Barcelona in the final on 18 December 2011, where Santos were defeated 4–0, finishing as runners up in the competition.[35] He won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring a sensational solo goal in the Brasileirão Série A against Flamengo, in a 5–4 loss. On 31 December 2011, he won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record margin, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.Neymar scored six goals during Santos run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores Finals, tying him for third top goalscorer,[26] including the clinching goal of Santos' 4–3 aggregate win over Cerro Porteño in the semifinals.[27] In the two-legged final, Santos faced Uruguayan side Peñarol and drew the first leg 0–0 in Montevideo.[28] At home in the second leg, Neymar opened the scoring in the 46th minute as Santos held on for a 2–1 win and Neymar won Man of the Match honours.[29][30] The win brought Santos their first Copa Libertadores triumph since 1963, when Brazilian legend Pelé was playing for the club.

2013 season

Neymar started the 2013 Campeonato Paulista scoring twice in the first match, which ended a 3–1 win over São Bernardo on 19 January 2013.[48] Four days later on 23 January 2013, Neymar scored again against Botafogo in a 3–0 win.[49] On 3 February 2013, in the Paulista fixture against São Paulo, where Santos won 3–1, with Neymar scoring and making two assists.[50] on 18 March 2013, Neymar told that he had a "dream of playing in Europe, for a big club like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea." But he went on to say: "There's no point in speculating when I'll leave Santos. I'll leave when I want to.

Neymar played his last match for Santos in a goalless draw against Flamengo on 26 May 2013, and he was clearly moved. During the national anthem before the game at Brasília, Neymar struggled to keep his emotions in check with tears rolling down his face.

Barcelona

During Barcelona's opening game of the 2013–14 La Liga, Neymar made his competitive debut for the club as a 63rd minute substitute in a 7–0 win against Levante UD.[62] On 21 August, he scored his first competitive goal for Barcelona in the first leg of the 2013 Supercopa de España againstAtlético Madrid.[63]On 24 May 2013, Santos announced that they had received two offers for Neymar.[55] The following day, Neymar announced he would sign with FC Barcelona on 27 May 2013 and join the team after playing in the 2013 Confederations Cup. Neither Neymar nor the clubs released details on the transfer fee or personal terms, except to say he signed a five-year deal.[56] On 3 June 2013, Neymar was unveiled by Barcelona after passing medical tests and signing a contract that would keep him at the club through June 2018.[57] Club vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu said Neymar's transfer fee was €57 million (£48.6m) (making him the 9th overall highest transfer) and his release clause was set at €190 million.[58] However, concerns remain that Neymar may be too lightweight for the transition to European football, and may need to bulk up in order to reach his peak physical condition.[59] On 30 July 2013, Barcelona drew 2–2 against Lechia Gdańsk in a preseason friendly; this was Neymar's unofficial debut with the team, and he came on as a substitute.[60] On 7 August 2013, Neymar scored his first goal in a Barcelona shirt during a 7–1 friendly win over the Thailand national team inBangkok.