Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Portuguese pronunciation: [nejˈmaʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈsɐ̃tus ˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5 February 1992), commonly known as Neymar or Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Spanish 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.[3] 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 for Goal of the Year, which he won.[4] He is known for his acceleration, dribbling skills, finishing and ability with both feet. His playing style has earned him critical acclaim, with fans, media and former players drawing comparison to former Brazil forward Pelé, who has called Neymar "an excellent player", while Ronaldinho has stated "he will be the best in the world".[5][6][7]

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 awards 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 Santos retained the state title and also won the 2011 Copa Libertadores in which Neymar scored six goals in 13 appearances. He also played a key role in securing a Continental Double, Santos' first since 1963. Neymar received the Bronze Ball in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, with Santos reaching the final, where they were defeated 4–0 by Barcelona.[8]

Neymar has 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. Neymar 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 eleventh title in the competition. Neymar was selected as part of Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil squad for the 2013 Confederations Cup on home soil. For the tournament he was assigned the iconic number 10 shirt. On 30 June, Neymar scored Brazil's second goal in the 3–0 final win over Spain. Neymar's performances saw him awarded the golden ball for the best player of the tournament.[9] At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Neymar scored four goals before he fractured a vertebra in his spine in the quarter-finals and missed the rest of the tournament. He received the Bronze Boot as the tournament's third top goalscorer, and was named in the World Cup All Star XI.

With 36 goals in 55 matches for Brazil, he is the sixth highest goalscorer for his national team.[10] In 2012 and 2013, SportsPro named him the most marketable athlete in the world.[11] In December 2013, Neymar was ranked by The Guardian as the sixth best player in the world.[12]

Contents [hide]

1 Early life

2 Club career

2.1 Santos

2.1.1 Youth

2.1.2 2009 season

2.1.3 2010 season

2.1.4 2011 season

2.1.5 2012 season

2.1.6 2013 season

2.2 Barcelona

2.2.1 Transfer investigation

2.2.2 2013–14 season

2.2.3 2014-15 season

3 International career

3.1 2011 Copa América

3.2 2012 Summer Olympics and first hat-trick

3.3 2013 Confederations Cup

3.4 2014 World Cup

4 Style of play

5 Outside football

5.1 Personal life

5.2 Wealth

5.3 Sponsorships

5.4 Media

5.5 Music

6 Career statistics

6.1 Club

6.2 International

6.2.1 International goals

7 Honours

7.1 Club

7.2 National team

8 References

9 External links

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.[13] 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."[14] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.[15]

In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista.[16] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos FC.[17] 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, 125,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed a full professional contract, getting upgraded to the Santos first team and even receiving sponsorships.[18]

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 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).[19] While