Neymar da Silva Santos Junior is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently is in the Ligue 1 team Paris Saint Germain in the left wing position. He is popular for scoring goals, and he is a brilliant playmaker. And other than this, he can dribble past a couple of players, it is his skills and dribbles that make him famous.
Currently, his major trophies are the Champions League with Barcelona and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. In 2019, Brazil won the Copa America, but he failed to be in the team as he took an injury. Let’s see his lifelong journey throughout the years.
Neymar Basic Information
Before going further on Neymar’s journey, let’s know the basic information.
| Full Name | Neymar da Silva Santos Junior |
| Nationality | Brazil |
| Date of Birth | 5 February 1992 |
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches (1.75m) |
| Current Team | Paris Saint Germain |
| Position | Winger |
| Number | 10 |
Neymar Professional Information
Currently, Neymar plays for Paris Saint Germain, where he wears the number 10 shirt. Like any other European footballer, Neymar’s journey didn’t start well as he is always injury prone. Luckily, he was able to make a move to Barcelona at the age of 21. And the rest is history.
Also, Neymar is currently the highest international goalscorer for Brazil, where he is standing at the 11th position with Pele. Let’s see how his club and international career went.
| Team | Starting Year | Left | Appearances | Goals |
| Portuguesa Santista | 1999 | 2003 | – | – |
| Santos Youth Team | 2003 | 2009 | – | – |
| Santos | 2009 | 2013 | 177 | 107 |
| Barcelona | 2013 | 2017 | 123 | 68 |
| Paris Saint Germain | 2017 | – | 112 | 82 |
This is how Neymar’s international career has been going all over the years.
| Division | Years Active | Appearances | Goals |
| Brazil U17 | 2009 | 3 | 1 |
| Brazil U20 | 2011 | 7 | 9 |
| Brazil U23 | 2012 | 8 | 4 |
| Brazil Olympic | 2016 | 6 | 4 |
| Brazil | 2010- | 124 | 77 |
Neymar: The Brazilian Superstar
Neymar was born in 1992 in Mogi das Cruzes in Brazil. He comes from a low-income family where there was a lack of food. And at that time, there was no one who had thought that one boy this boy would challenge Pele to be the highest international scorer for Brazil. Let’s see how his career has been going through.
Career Start
Neymar started his youth career at the age of 7 in Portuguesa Santista. It is a Brazilian club that is situated in Sao Paulo. He was so skillful and extraordinary that Santos couldn’t resist themselves from bringing this player. Neymar went to Santos in 2003.
Santos
Neymar used to play for Santos U20 for a couple of years, and in 2009, he was finally brought to the Santos senior team. In his debut season, Neymar started to show his abilities on the pitch as he scored against Mogi Mirim, and this was his first goal. In the second season, he was able to win Campeonato Paulista. And he scored five goals in one match in the qualifying round.
In the 2011-12 season, Neymar scored six goals in the Copa Libertadores Finals, and he was the third top goalscorer. He also scored against Cerro Porteno in the semi-finals. Santos showed brilliance in the FIFA Club World Cup as well, and Neymar showed his performance there too. He won the FIFA Puskas Award.
Barcelona
Neymar already indicated that he would go for a move to Barcelona. And the transfer took place in 2013. There was no proper information regarding the fees, but the transfer fee was around €80 million. In the first season, Neymar faced some issues because the two leagues were different from each other. He took only one season to learn how to adapt to Spanish football.
In the 2014-15 season, Barcelona was fearless. With the help of MSN, Barcelona was able to win the treble, and Neymar showed his individual performance throughout the season. In this season, the trio ended up scoring a total of 122 goals. And Neymar scored 39 goals in that season.
In the 2015-16 season, Neymar was able to make to the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or, but he was not near both of them. In the 2016-17 season, which was Neymar’s last season in Barcelona, he scored two goals against PSG in the champions league, where they knocked PSG by 6-5. Neymar was able to score in the 2017 Copa del Rey Final.
Paris Saint Germain
Neymar’s father has always handled his career, and he was able to reach an agreement with PSG. The record transfer fee of €222 million, and this is the highest transfer fee that a club has ever made. There were so many controversies going on regarding this transfer, but Neymar joined the French side in 2017, and he got the number 10 jersey, it was a gift from Javier Pastore.
In his first season with PSG, Neymar got Mbappe and Cavani alongside him. He scored against Celtic and Bayern Munich in their Champions League run. But a couple of months later, he took an injury and couldn’t play the rest of the season. He scored 28 goals in 30 matches. PSG won the domestic treble.
At the opening of the 2018-19 season, Neymar started scoring in the first match. Neymar scored a hattrick against Red Star Belgrade in a Champions League match. But he took an injury and couldn’t play against Manchester United. PSG lost to United, and the Champions League run ended. Though PSG won the league title.
In the 2019-20 season, PSG got the opportunity to reach the Champions League finals for the first time, but they lost to Bayern Munich. There were talks about Neymar that he would return to Barcelona again, but the transfer talk broke down. Last year, he made a new contract with PSG to stay until 2026. Last year, he got Messi beside him, but unfortunately, their run ended. This year, the same thing happened, and the team against was Bayern Munich.
South American Young Championship
In the 2011 South American Youth Championship, Neymar was the leading goalscorer by scoring a total of nine goals. He also scored two goals in the finals against Brazil, and the score was 6-0.
Neymar also took participation in the 2011 Copa America, and he was able to score two goals against Ecuador. But Brazil lost against Paraguay in the quarter-finals.
Summer Olympics 2016
There were hesitations on whether Neymar would play in the Brazilian Olympic team or not, but finally, Luis Enrique gave permission to Neymar. And Neymar and the team showed what they were capable of.
Brazil beat Germany in the finals in a penalty shootout. And this was Neymar’s first trophy with his national team.
Final Words
Neymar is known for his speed, dribble, skills, and clinical finish. When it comes to individual trophies, Neymar is not the one who has achieved a lot of trophies, but if Neymar is participating in a tournament, then the opponents need to take a good care of them.
If he could escape injuries, maybe Messi and Ronaldo would have a competition. At the time of writing this article, Neymar has already taken an ankle injury, and he is out for around four months.
Thank You.
Read Also:
