This is definitely going to be an interesting blog as starting from now the blogs will dive into some very well known and reputable soccer stars. This particular blog is about the one and only Neymar De Silva Santos Jr. Neymar is one of the most famous players around the world and comes from a country known for creating such superstars: Brazil. He was born on February 5, 1992, in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil. His football journey began in Sao Vicente, where he was guided by father, a former professional football player. He joined a youth team in Sao Vicente, but in 2003 his family moved to Santos. There he joined an academy called Santos FC, where Pele also began his domestic career. In 2004 he had been accepted by Spain’s Real Madrid, which made it difficult and and expensive for Santos FC to keep him in the academy. In 2009 he started playing matches for the Santos team and got them the Libertadores Cup, one of the biggest cups in South America. In 2010, Neymar tried to get to play in the world cup in South Africa for Brazil, but couldn’t get in.
After this point began his journey at the international stage in the Europe’s prestigious clubs. Santos traded Neymar to Spain’s FC Barcelona in 2013 (where he met Messi) for $76 million. With FC Barcelona, Neymar kept on winning titles on titles in Europe making his name a hot discussion topic in the continent. He played for the club for 4 years scoring 105 goals in 186 matches and then switched to France’s Paris-Saint Germain. Many think that this was because the player wanted to create a name for himself, but while being in FC Barcelona, he was only under Messi’s shadow. His departure from FCB to PSG cost PSG $263 million. Neymar at this point became the highest paid player with a $54 million annual salary. In 2014 Brazil hosted the FIFA world cup, and this time Neymar was able to play for his country. In this world cup though, Neymar faced an injury to the vertebra that almost ended his career, but he was able to successfully recover from it. Due to this injury though, he couldn’t play the whole world cup, which cost Brazil one of the most shameful losses in history of 7-1 against Germany in the semi finals.
In 2017, Mbappe signed the team of PSG as well creating the Neymar-Mbappe duo, one of the toughest attack team. His total goals scored kept increasing as his career matured and Neymar created just what he wanted, a reputable name for himself. This continued till 2021, when Messi, due to unfortunate financial circumstances of FCB, had to leave his club and joined PSG. This time, however, Neymar was completely fine playing with Messi as the world no longer just saw him second to Messi, but as a separate player. He extended his contract with PSG until 2025. Neymar, Mbappe, and Messi became one of the strongest frontline combination in the history of soccer.
Neymar now coming towards the end of his career as indeed created a legacy that will never be forgotten. His incredible dribbling skills and his beautiful goals will forever be remembered by all soccer fans.
Source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neymar