Early Life
Neymar da Silva Santos Jr was born on February 5, 1992, in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil. He was raised with soccer in his life because his dad was a former professional soccer player. In 1999, he joined the Portuguesa Santista youth club. When he was eleven, he joined the youth system of Santos FC. When he was 14, news of his talents spread to Europe, and the club Real Madrid C.F offered to take him in and train him. The Santos team’s management convinced him to stay with a large bonus. In 2019, he earned the Santos league’s Best Young Player award. In 2010, he helped Santos win both the Copa do Brasil and the league championships en-route to three scoring titles in a row and four Player of the Year awards in a row. In 2011, he scored what would be voted the FIFA goal of the year and helped lead Santos to its first-ever Copa Libertadores championship in 48 years. On his birthday in 2012, Neymar scored his 100th professional goal and finished the year with a career-best of 43 goals.
Playing for FC Barcelona
In May 2013, Neymar announced that he was switching teams to FC Barcelona. Not long afterward, he led Brazil to the win in the 2013 Confederations Cup. During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, only minutes before Brazil won its quarterfinal match against Columbia, Neymar has carried off the field in a stretcher after breaking a bone in his back because of a challenge from Columbian defender Juan Zuniga. Neymar scored 39 goals during the 2014-15 season, which helped the club achieve the coveted treble by winning league, domestic, and European Cup titles. In the following year, after Barcelona became La Liga champions, Neymar scored in extra time to propel the team to another Copa Del Ray title. He was suspended during the 2015 Copa America, which got rid of pretty much any chance Brazil had of making an extended run. The following year, he sat out of the tournament to stay rested and healthy for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which was a move that worked great for Brazil. Neymar scored multiple key goals to put his team ahead before scoring the winning penalty kick and winning Brazil its first men’s soccer gold medal.
Playing for Paris Saint-Germain
In August 2017, Neymar began playing for the French club Paris Saint-Germain. His time with Paris Saint-Germain was off to a good start until he suffered a broken foot, ending his season after 30 games. The following season he suffered another foot injury but recovered soon enough to help his team win the Ligue 1 title. While already being known for his theatrics on the field, Neymar came under fire during his second season with PSG when he heavily criticized the officials after a loss to Manchester United during the Champions League in March. This action earned him a three-game suspension for upcoming Champions League games. In August 2011, Neymar and his former girlfriend had a son which they named David Lucca.
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