INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Neymar da Silva Santos Jr is like a magician Not the kind of magician that can pull a rabbit out of a hat He is like a magician with a soccer ball Neymar can do things with his favorite toy that fans would not believe is possible Opposing players wish they were impossible But they have seen it with their own eyes They have been fooled by the amazing ballhandling of the Brazilian star as he burns them for goal after goal Neymar is perhaps the greatest soccer player in the world It is no wonder that Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona spent millions of dollars to lure him from his home country And it is no wonder that the French club Paris Saint-Germain spent millions to pry him away from FC Barcelona Both clubs fully understood that Neymar could do more than help their teams win He would also be embraced by their fans for his incredible skills Yet Neymar is more than just a great soccer player He is a father He is among the highest-paid athletes in the world of advertising He is a generous person who loves kids His charity work in Brazil has helped the children of that country live better lives Neymar has emerged as a superstar It all started with an encouraging father a love for the sport and a gift for soccer Neymar prepares to move downfield in a 2017 match His amazing balance and ballhandling are considered his greatest assets 4
5 Introduction
The Boy Wonder It was 1998 Soccer scout Betinho dos Santos was searching for talent in the Brazilian town of São Vicente He watched some players booting a ball around the beach He knew a gifted athlete when he saw one After all only a few years before he had discovered a future superstar in Robinho But the most intriguing prospect he observed that day was not running around on the sand He was hanging around his mother in the stands Soccer is popular at Santos Beach in the Brazilian town of São Vicente Neymar’s talents were discovered there as a six-year-old 6 CHAPTER ONE
Dos Santos might never have imagined finding a potential star in any six-year-old Yet there he was a skinny little kid performing magic with a soccer ball Dos Santos stared at the child The more he stared the more amazed he became That was a moment dos Santos The Boy Wonder QUICK FACT Neymar was born and raised near one of the biggest cities in the world Only four cities have more people than São Paulo Brazil The population of São Paulo’s metropolitan area was more than 21 million in 2016 That represents the largest population of any city in the Western Hemisphere would never forget I saw that kid running around and he caught my attention he recalled later during an interview He already had agility and coordination Of course he was very very thin too Then he started doing some tricks with the ball tricks that a normal kid would never do I was shocked That child was Neymar da Silva Santos Jr Among the professional players on the beach that day was his father Neymar da Silva Sr His Neymar right and his father center watch a soccer match Neymar’s dad instilled a passion for soccer into his son at an early age 7
