Neymar

Neymar is a Brazilian professional footballer

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior born 5 February 1992 commonly known as Neymar Jr. or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. He is considered to be one of the best players in the world.

Neymar was twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, before moving to Europe to join Barcelona. As part of Barça's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and came third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 for his performances. He followed this up by attaining a domestic double in the 2015–16 season. In August 2017, Neymar transferred from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in a move worth €222 million, making him the world's most expensive player. In France, he claimed a domestic treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and Coupe de la Ligue, and was voted as the league's Player of the Year.

In May 2018, Neymar was named in Tite's final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 3 June 2018, he made his international comeback after a three-month absence from a foot injury and scored a goal in a 2–0 win over Croatia in a friendly match at Anfield. The following week, he became Brazil's joint-third highest goalscorer alongside Romário when he scored his 55th international goal in a 3–0 friendly win over Austria. In Brazil's second World Cup match, played against Costa Rica at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, on 22 June, Neymar scored the team's second goal in injury time as Brazil won 2–0. The goal, his 56th for Brazil, took him third in the all-time scoring chart behind only Pelé and Ronaldo.

On 2 July, Neymar scored his second goal of the World Cup in a 2–0 win over Mexico in the last 16, while also assisting Roberto Firmino for his goal. After the Mexico game, BBC Sport wrote that despite Neymar's "good performances" coming up top in several statistics at the World Cup, "there is still a sense that he remains widely unpopular among neutrals" due to his "petulance and the play-acting". Meanwhile, Brazilian newspaper O Globo wrote that "Neymar has charmed Brazil, but annoyed the whole world". On 6 July, Brazil were eliminated after losing 2–1 against Belgium in the quarter-finals, with Neymar denied an injury time equaliser by a finger-tip save from Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.