February 5 is apparently a fetish date in football. Like Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar da Silva Santos Junior was born on this date, 22 years ago in Mogi das Cruzes. The Brazilian tasted fame and fortune at a young age, making social media his home with popular Youtube videos which earned him worldwide comparisons with legends Ronaldinho and Pele.
At only 19, Neymar made shockwaves on the football scene and landed the South American Footballer of the Year award in 2011 and 2012. Having developed at Portuguesa Santista (1999-2003) and Santos (2003-2009) before clinching a professional contract with the later, Neymar was immediately handed the challenge to prove himself in Europe.
After shining at the 2013 Confederations Cup with Brazil, the Brazilian star completed a controversial and hugely hyped transfer from Santos FC to FC Barcelona in summer.
However, he did not leave behind his reputation of being a diver. Neymar loves social media and he has gathered a huge amount of fans and anti-fans as well.
Joey Barton once tweeted what many “haters” think
Neymar is the Justin Bieber of football. Brilliant on the old You Tube. Cat piss in reality...
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) March 25, 2013
Remarkably, Neymar’s club football performances in his debut season with Barcelona are only a shadow of the wonders he does while wearing Brazil’s yellow, blue and green jersey.
A viral picture which surfaced on social media in October 2013
Did you know?
• Neymar became Brazil’s eleventh-highest topscorer with 30 goals in 47 international games.
• He won the 2011 FIFA Puskas Award with his goal against Flamengo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, beating competition from Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo among others.
• He was part of the Brazilian team which finished second behind champions Mexico at the 2012 London Olympics.
Neymar has been sensational with the iconic number 10 jersey on his shoulders
