Brazilian superstar
Neymar has been catching the eye of one and all with his scintillating displays in a
Barcelona shirt
as the youngster continues to take giant strides into establishing
himself at the Camp Nou. Let's try and decode his life off the
circumference of the football pitch and take a sneak peek into some of
the most interesting facets about his life.
Here are 12 unknown facts about the latest Barcelona sensation.
1. Neymar's former employers, Santos, was the only team Neymar had
represented before he made the high-profile move to Barcelona. The
22-year old joined the
Santos Academy in 2003 and had been there since until Barcelona came calling.
2. Neymar celebrates his birthday on February 5. What is so special
about that you ask? Well, it was in 2012 when on the occasion of his
20th birthday, Neymar scored the 100th goal of his professional career
against Palmeiras, a trademark Neymar goal.
Not many can claim to have scored on their birthday. Certainly few
would have set such an amazing milestone on their birthday. And all this
at the tender age of 20! The kid's got some talent!
3. Brazil has produced some great athletes over the years, but Neymar
is the only one to have graced the cover of TIME magazine. The perks of
being talented, isn't it?
4. Here's one thing in which
Neymar beat
Lionel Messi by
a long way - the Brazilian became a father to little Davvi Luca at just
19. Neymar has refused to reveal the identity of the mother to 'protect
her and the child'.
5.
Real Madrid's
interest in acquiring Neymar's services have been well documented in
recent times - the move fell through in the summer of 2011. But Neymar
could have joined the Spanish giants much earlier when he flew to Spain
at the age of 14 to complete a move to Real, but Santos paid a hefty
price to keep him in his homeland.
6. Neymar could well have been a
West Ham if
things had fallen into place a few years back. West Ham had made a bid
of £12 million for the Brazilian, but Neymar turned them down saying he
wasn't 'ready' for the English game!
7. Despite making dramatic headways into the footballing spotlight,
Neymar was overlooked by Dunga for the National team squad flying to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, even after
Pele and
Romario pitched
for his inclusion. A petition signed by 14,000 fans also wasn't of much
help as the Barcelona man wasn't even included in the stand-by list. He
eventually got his chance under manager Mano Menezes in August of 2010
in a friendly against the United States. And he grabbed it with both
hands, scoring on his debut for
Brazil.
8. Neymar may only be 22, and still has a long way to go to reach the heights of Lionel Messi and
Cristiano Ronaldo,
but the Brazilian superstar is already one of the richest blokes in the
business. In 2012, Neymar was listed as the 7th richest footballer in
the world. And he must be even richer after the big-money move to
Barcelona.
9. At 57 million euros, Neymar is only Barcelona's 9th most expensive
purchase - under-the-table money involved you think? Certainly all the
controversy regarding Neymar's transfer had cost Sandro Rosell his post
of Barca President. The new management revealed that the deal to bring
Neymar to the Camp Nou had cost 86 million euros including 40 million
euros paid to a company directly managed by Neymar’s father, Neymar da
Silva.
10. Interestingly, Neymar's ownership rights didn't belong to Santos
alone, but to three separate entities - Santos owned 50 percent of his
rights. On 30 November 2010, Santos sold 5 percent shares on future
transfer fees received to an investment group, Terceira Estrela
Investimentos S.A. (TEISA) while DIS Group, an investment partner of
Santos in recent times, bought 40% sporting rights from Neymar's family
way back in 2009.
11. Here are the trophies that the Brazilian has already won at the
age of 22 : Best Young Player of Campeonato Paulista (2009), Best
Forward of Campeonato Paulista (2010, 2011) Best player of Campeonato
Paulista (2010, 2011), Best player of Copa Santander
Libertadores (2011), Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão Championship
Squad (2010), Arthur Friedenreich Award (2010), Silver Ball (2010) –
Best Forward in Brazilian League by magazine Placar, Golden Boot (2010)–
Most goals in all competition in Brazil, Copa do Brasil Top scorer
(2010), South American Youth Championship Top scorer 2011.
Phew! All this at only 22!
12. Finally,
Neymar is already the world's most marketable athlete, beating the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, ace golfer
Rory McIlroy and
Usain Bolt to it. And he is just getting started, isn't he? The sky's the limit for Neymar!
