Neymar

Santos

Youth

Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos who offered him a contract in 2003; where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in the past, produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and Alex. He also joined the likes of Pepe, Pelé and Robinho in starting out his career at the club, nicknamed Peixe. While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends in the process. Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain for tryouts with the Real Madrid youth team. He did not stay in Madrid, however, as his father decided at the time that he preferred the young prodigy to keep growing up while playing at Santos.

2009–11: Teenage sensation and Copa Libertadores triumph

Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, one month after turning 17 years old, in a 2–1 win against Oeste in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista. On 11 April, Neymar scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg. In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians. Neymar continued his rapid development in 2010, scoring 42 goals in 60 matches in all competitions and helping Santos win its first ever Copa do Brasil title, where he finished as the tournament's top scorer with 11 goals. It was a breakout season for him, emerging as one of the hottest prospects in world football and being…

2010–2012: Senior debut and first major tournaments

Following Neymar's performances for Santos in their successful early 2010 season, including winning the 2010 Copa do Brasil, in which he was the top goalscorer, and the 2010 Campeonato Paulista, in which he scored 14 goals, former Brazilian football players Pelé and Romário reportedly urged coach Dunga to take Neymar to the 2010 World Cup. Although the opinion that Neymar deserved a place in Dunga's squad went as far as a 14,000 signature petition, and despite the pressure on Dunga to pick Neymar, he was omitted from both the squad of 23, and the stand-by list. Although Dunga described Neymar as "extremely talented", he said that the 18-year-old had not been tested sufficiently on the international level to earn a World Cup spot and he had failed to impress enough while on international duty. On 26 July 2010, Neymar was selected for the first time in the Brazil senior team by new head coach Mano Menezes for a friendly match against the United States to be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On 10 August 2010, he made his debut with the national team in that game, aged 18 years old, starting the match and wearing the number 11 jersey. He scored on his debut after 28 minutes, a header coming from an André Santos cross in a 2–0 win for Brazil. On 1 March 2011, Neymar said: "Being on the Brazilian team is a privilege. There are some marvelous players and I'm very happy to be among them."

On 27 March 2011, he scored…

Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva and had a Christian upbringing. He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow. Neymar comments on his father's role: "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and my family." Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football. Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces. He was inspired by Robinho — his "idol" — Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney. In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista. Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos. With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10000 reais per month and at 16, 125000 reais per month. At 17, he signed his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals.

Neymar has a very close sibling relationship with his sister Rafaella Beckran. He honoured Beckran by tattooing her face on his arm while she tattooed her brother's eyes on her arm. Neymar is the father of one son and three daughters, two of whom with his current partner. Neymar is a Christian and he was baptised at Peniel Baptist Church in Santos in 2008. He speaks regularly about his faith. Neymar has said about his faith: "Life only makes sense when our highest ideal is to serve Christ!" Additionally, he has worn a headband with the words "100% Jesus". Neymar also tithes some of his income to his church and has named Kaká as his religious role model. Every year, Neymar organises a charity match with fellow Brazilian footballer Nenê in Nenê's hometown of Jundiaí, with the purpose of raising food for poor families. In addition to his native Portuguese, Neymar also speaks Spanish. In July 2019, police announced that a rape investigation against Neymar would be dropped due to insufficient evidence. On 2 September 2020, it was reported that Neymar, along with PSG teammates Ángel Di María and Leandro Paredes, tested positive for COVID-19. The French sports newspaper L'Équipe said that the three players reportedly went on vacation in Ibiza. As a result, they were quarantined for one week, and the rest of the players and working staff were scheduled to take a coronavirus test within the same week. During a match between PSG and Marseille, Neymar reported being racially abused by…