Neymar in 2016
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior | ||
Date of birth | 5 February 1992 | ||
Place of birth | Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Playing position | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current team
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Barcelona | ||
Number | 11 | ||
Youth career | |||
1999–2003 | Portuguesa Santista | ||
2003–2009 | Santos | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2009–2013 | Santos | 103 | (54) |
2013– | Barcelona | 123 | (68) |
National team‡ | |||
2009 | Brazil U17 | 3 | (1) |
2011 | Brazil U20 | 7 | (9) |
2012–2016 | Brazil U23 | 14 | (8) |
2010– | Brazil | 77 | (52) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2017 |
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Portuguese pronunciation: [nejˈmaʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈsɐ̃tus ˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5 February 1992), commonly known as Neymar or Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Brazil national team.
Neymar came into prominence at an early age at Santos, where he made his professional debut aged 17. He helped the club win two successive Campeonato Paulista championships, a Copa do Brasil, and the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Santos' first continental title since 1963. Neymar was twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, before relocating 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 in the 2014–15 season, followed the next year by the domestic double. He came third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015.
With 52 goals in 77 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the fourth-highest goalscorer for his national team. He was a key player in Brazil's victories at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, which he finished as the leading goalscorer, and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut short by injury and a suspension respectively, but the next year he captained Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics.