Neymar looks to keep Barcelona on top in the European landscape of the beautiful game

Officially, he is known as Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, but to the football fans of Brazil, you need only one word to identify the number 10 on the pitch in green and yellow. The 23-year-old striker was born in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil and has been playing organized football since he was seven years […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-11-20 13:04:00

Officially, he is known as Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, but to the football fans of Brazil, you need only one word to identify the number 10 on the pitch in green and yellow.

The 23-year-old striker was born in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil and has been playing organized football since he was seven years old. He began his junior career at Associação Atlética Portuguesa before moving on to the Santos Futebol Clube in 2003.

Neymar played his youth career from 2003 to 2009, before signing with the Santos first team at the ripe age of 17, where the accolades and achievements started to build. Neymar went on to win the Best Young Player of the Year award in his first Campeonato Paulista campaign in 2009, and helped the club win the 2010 league title the following season with another award for Player of the Year as well.
Along with the league championship, Neymar led the club in scoring with 11 goals, en route to a Brazilian Cup title. He earned a double for his club by scoring 42 times in 60 overall matches, which were played between the two competitions.
The big move came in 2013, when Neymar took his talents to Barcelona, Spain to play alongside Argentinian rival Lionel Messi, and Uruguayan star Luis Suarez for the

La Liga powerhouse. Before his arrival, Barcelona were the defending 2012/13 Spanish Primera League Champions, after a 100-point campaign that saw the Blaugrana shove 115 goals in the net, but Neymar’s presence on an even bigger stage was about to be revealed.
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil showcased Neymar as the face of the tournament, with the green and gold 10 jersey shown on every television around the globe. Had it not been for an untimely injury to Neymar in the 88th minute of the quarterfinals against Columbia, the Brazilian team might have been able to advance to the finals.

History will show, however, that Germany handed Brazil one of their harshest World Cup defeats in history with a 7 – 1 loss, that eventually led to the German team winning the title against Argentina in extra time.
At the moment, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is still out due to injury, which he sustained early in the La Liga campaign and has kept the Argentinian superstar out of the line up since late September.
Through 11 fixtures of the 2015/16 La Liga campaign, Barcelona finds themselves atop the Primera League table with 27 points, which is three points clear of rival Real Madrid, as the two clubs prepare for another version of El Clasico this weekend at Camp Nou.

Neymar and Suarez have certainly been responsible for carrying the load without the presence of Messi, as the two have combined to score 20 of the clubs 25 goals scored in league play, while also leading the way in this year’s European Champions League. Neymar currently leads LaLiga with all 11 goals.
Barcelona sits in first place with 10 points through the first four rounds of Champions League group stage, where the club appears in group E with AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov. The fifth matchday is set to take place on November 25 at Camp Nou, with second place AS Roma visiting with five points in the group table.

The odds at this point strongly favor Barcelona’s advancement to the round of 16, as a draw against Roma would be sufficient in earning them the top spot in group E.
With the return of Lionel Messi possibly happening for El Clasico this weekend, the La Liga odds for Barcelona to take a consecutive league title greatly increase, especially since Barcelona has played exceptionally well without his presence.
Barcelona became the first club in the history of Spanish football to win an unprecedented triple for a second time last year, after winning the La Liga title, Copa Del Rey trophy, and Champions League title in 2014/15.
Neymar is signed through June, 2018 with Barcelona, and will always be a staple with the Brazilian National Team, so there is nothing but high expectations surrounding the young, but already heralded, star.

Even Pele, an iconic figure, has often admitted that Neymar might even reach heights that the former Brazilian and New York Cosmos legend hasn’t even reached, but that will only be revealed in time. For now, the future is bright for Neymar, as Barcelona is on top of the La Liga table, while also on top of the Champions League group they are in hopes of defending their league and European titles.
The only thing left to accomplish is to get the Brazilian National team back to the World Cup, in hopes of leading his nation back to international prominence.

The last time Brazil won the World Cup was in 2002 over Germany, which marked a third straight finals appearance for the squad. Brazil lost to France in 1998 and won their fourth of five titles in 1994 over Italy in the United States.