Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned playmaker, he is regarded as one of the best players in the world.[7] Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of three players to achieve this.[8]
Neymar came into prominence at Santos, where he made his professional debut aged 17. He helped the club win two successive Campeonato Paulista championships, a Copa do Brasil, and the 2011 Copa Libertadores; the latter being Santos' first since 1963. Neymar was twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, and soon relocated to Europe to join Barcelona. As part of Barcelona's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, dubbed MSN, he won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League. He then attained a domestic double in the 2015–16 season. Motivated to be a talisman at club level, Neymar transferred to PSG in 2017[9] in a move worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever.[note 1] In France, he won four league titles, among other honours, and was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year in his debut season.[12] Notably, he helped PSG attain a domestic quadruple in the 2019–20 season, and led the club to its first ever Champions League Final.
With 75 goals in 121 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the second highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing Pelé. At his youth stage for Brazil, he was a key player in the victory at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, where he finished as leading goalscorer, and also attained a silver medal in men's football at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The following year, he won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the Golden Ball. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut short by injury and a suspension, respectively, before captaining Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Having renounced the captaincy, he featured at the 2018 World Cup, and after missing the 2019 Copa América through injury, helped Brazil to a runner-up finish at the 2021 tournament.
Neymar finished third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 and 2017, has been awarded the FIFA Puskás Award, has been named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 twice, the UEFA Team of the Year twice, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season three times. Off the pitch, he ranks among the world's most prominent sportsmen. SportsPro named him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2012 and 2013, and ESPN cited him as the world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016. In 2017, Time included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[13] In 2018, France Football ranked Neymar the world's third highest-paid footballer. The following year, Forbes ranked him the world's third highest-paid athlete,[14] dropping a spot to fourth in 2020.[15]
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva and had a Christian upbringing.[16][17] 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.[18] 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."[19] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.[20] Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces.[21]
In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista.[22] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos.[23] With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. 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 his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals.
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