Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, popularly known around the world as Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian football player born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo state on February 5, 1992. He is the son of Nadine and Neymar Santos, from whom he inherited his name and passion for football, as his father was also a footballer in the past. From a very young age, Neymar showed his love for futsal and street football, and it was in these sports that he began to showcase all his football talent.
Neymar started to venture into the world of football, playing indoor football motivated by Betinho and then moved through clubs like Gremental and Santista, small football clubs in the city of Santos (SP). In 2003, when he was just 11 years old, he was signed by Santos Futebol Clube.
In March 2009, at the age of 17, Neymar made his debut as a professional player for Santos in a match against Ocidente, in which he played the last 30 minutes of the game.
In 2010, he was crowned champion of the São Paulo championship, in which he scored 14 goals in 19 matches and was chosen as the best player of the season by scoring 42 goals in 70 matches. All these accolades led to Neymar being compared to players like Robinho and the iconic king Pelé, who were his idols.
In the 2011 Copa Libertadores, he managed to finish 3rd in the tournament’s scoring table after scoring 6 goals; a championship in which he played for Santos against the historic Peñarol from Uruguay. In December of that same year, his team began participation in the Club World Cup, where he faced Kashiwa Reysol in the semifinals, a match they won 3-1, and Neymar scored a goal. The final of this tournament would be against Barcelona FC from Spain, resulting in a massive defeat of 4-0 in favor of the Spanish team, but nonetheless, Neymar managed to win the South American Player of the Year Award and the World Soccer Award for best young player in the world. Furthermore, he would start the year 2012 by winning the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year.
In 2013, Neymar expressed his desire to play for a European club like Chelsea, Barcelona, or Real Madrid, and that year, in May, he signed a contract with Barcelona FC for 5 seasons for approximately 57 million euros.
In the final match of the Champions League against Juventus from Italy in June 2015, Neymar became the eighth player in history to win and score in the finals of both the Copa Libertadores and the Champions League.
In December 2015, Neymar participated with Barcelona FC in the Club World Cup, where he began his journey in the semifinal round against Guangzhou Evergrande. The final of this competition was against the historic River Plate from Argentina, led by Lionel Messi. Although Neymar did not score any goals, he became a historic player after winning three of the most important competitions in the world: Copa Libertadores, UEFA Champions League, and FIFA Club World Cup.
Now Neymar plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after signing one of the most expensive contracts for a player.