Players

How Neymar became a footballer? The hard story of the PSG's star

By Juan Angel Aiesi

From a very young age Neymar showed his love for futsal and street soccer and it was in these sports that he began to show all his talent.

From a very young age Neymar showed his love for futsal and street soccer and it was in these sports that he began to show all his talent.

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Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, popularly known in the world as Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian footballer who was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo state on February 5, 1992 and plays as a winger or second striker. He is the son of Nadine, his mother, and Neymar Santos, his father, from whom he inherited his name and passion for soccer since he was also a soccer player in the past. From a very young age Neymar showed his love for futsal and street soccer and it was in these sports that he began to show all his soccer talent.

 

 

Soccer Trajectory at club level

 


In 2003, when he was only 11 years old, he was signed by Santos, one of the most famous and important teams in his country where famous players such as Bruno Coutinho, Pelé, Martins, Clodoaldo Tavares de Santana, Diego Walsh, Elano and Alex had been formed. In 2005, Real Madrid was interested in his talent and traveled to carry out the relevant tests to play for the club, which he passed satisfactorily.

 

The player made rapid progress in the lower categories, demonstrating in each one of them his ability and speed in dribbling with the ball, which allowed him to be promoted to the Santos first team in 2009.

 

 

On March 7, 2009 Neymar made his professional debut for Santos at the age of 17, in a match against Oeste in which he played the last 30 minutes of the game. His first goal in the team came a week after his debut against Mogi Mirim and on April 11 of the same year he scored a decisive goal in the first leg semifinal against Palmeiras, a match his team won 2-1. The final of that season was unfortunately lost 4-2 against Corinthians, being the end of his first season in which he managed to score 14 goals in 48 games.

 

 

In 2010 he was crowned champion of the Paulista championship, in which he scored 14 goals in 19 games and was chosen as the best player of the season by scoring 42 goals in 70 games. All these recognitions made Neymar begin to be compared to players like Robinho, who was his idol, and King Pelé, the icon of Brazilian soccer.

 

 

In the 2011 Liberators Cup, he managed to finish in third place in the scoring table of the championship after scoring 6 goals; championship in which he disputed the final with his team Santos against the historic Peñarol of Uruguay. In the first leg there was a goalless draw and in the second leg Santos achieved a narrow 2-1 victory and would give the championship to the Brazilian team, which in turn was the first international title at club level that Neymar won, in that match the player scored the first goal of the match.

On December 14 of the same year, his team began its participation in the Club World Cup, where they faced Kashiwa Reysol in the semifinals, a match in which they managed to win 3-1 and in which Neymar scored a goal. The final of that tournament was played against Barcelona FC of Spain, the result ended in a heavy 4-0 defeat in favor of the Spanish team.

 

 

 

On December 31, 2011, Neymar won the South American player of the year award and the World Soccer Award for the best young player in the world, in addition, he would start 2012 winning the Puskas award for the best goal of the year.

 

Neymar achieved his first hundred goals on February 5, 2012 in a match against Palmeiras corresponding to the paulista championship, this date would be very important for the player since he achieved that amount of goals on his 20th birthday. On October 18 of that same year the player achieved anoter important fact in his career, since he played his 200th match with the Santos jersey against atlético mineiro, the match ended 2-2 and Neymar scored a goal, in addition, he received a commemorative plaque from the club. At the end of the 2012 season, he also won the Golden Boot and the Globolinha de Ouro award for the best goal of the Brazilian championship.

In 2013 Neymar again expressed the desire to play in a European club of trajectory such as Chelsea, Barcelona or Real Madrid, so in that year he did not renew his contract with Santos. On May 26, the signing of the Brazilian star to Barcelona FC for 5 seasons and a value of approximately 57 million euros was made official.

 

 

Personal Information

 

Full Name          Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior
Birth                    February 5, 1992
Age                     29 years old
Occupation        Soccer Player
Nationality         Brazilian
Partner               Natalia Barulich

Height                 1,75 m
Current Team     Paris Saint Germain
Star sign              Aquarius

 

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