If you follow Brazilian soccer, you’ve definitely heard of Neymar, one of Brazil’s rising stars. He’s only nineteen years old, but he’s already been approached by several European teams, and will likely go to Spain or England with a very sizable salary within the next few years.
Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes in São Paulo state, and plays for the Santos team in São Paulo. He also plays for the Brazil national team, and will be one of the big stars during the World Cup in 2014. He’s become something of a pop star in Brazil with a devoted female following, and has a fair number of corporate endorsements (including a spot on the cover of the Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 video game). He’s also well known for doing funny victory dances with fellow players after scoring a goal. But Neymar is not exactly a saint. He’s already a father at age 19, and he’s known for having a temper and throwing hissy fits.
Here’s a recent interview of Neymar with TV star Xuxa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmQkbyzHA4g
Here’s Neymar scoring a goal in a jogada bonita:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgbv86wz4ec
And here’s a funny commercial he made with fellow Santos players last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdI0M8d2lQI