Will Neymar Make History For Brazil At The Olympics?
Brazil have won everything worth winning in football. Nearly.
Nearly. The one major soccer trophy it has never won is the Olympic Football Tournament, taking home only the bronze medal on two occasions, in 1996 and 2008. That's why when the tournament begins at the 2012 Olympics on 26th July, coach Mano Menezes will be hoping to write his name into the history books alongside former Brazil national coach Vicente Feola, who led Brazil to their first ever World Cup win in 1958. And he is certainly taking the competition seriously, picking an ensemble cast of young stars including Manchester United target Lucas Moura, Santos forward Neymar, AC Milan's Alexandre Pato and Porto forward Hulk, so it will perhaps come as little surprise to learn that Brazil are clear favourites this time. Of all the names in that list however, the one that stands out the most is Neymar's. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior is a product of Santos FC's Youth Academy, which has produced the likes of former Premier League stars Elano and Alex. At the age of 14, he travelled to Spain in order to join Real Madrid, who at the time had stars like Zinedine Zidane. Neymar passed the trial for his potential move, but Santos, realising his prodigious talents early on, reportedly paid 1 million reals to keep his services. He made his professional debut for Santos at just 17, and in spite of his inexperience, racked up 14 goals in 48 games. It was in 2010 though that he would really start to write the headlines. He scored five goals for Santos in an 81 rout of Guarani and a remarkable 42 goals in 60 games for the season. It was this scorching run of form that led to interest from Chelsea, though he rebuffed their advances to remain at Santos, where he has scored a jaw dropping 110 career goals in 186 appearances. At just 20, Brazil legend Pele even sensationally claimed he is better than Lionel Messi, who misses out on the Olympics due to Argentina's failure to qualify. Therefore, all the spotlights will be pointing squarely on Neymar this summer, much like they were on Ronaldo at the European Championships as he attempted to usurp Messi's throne. Can the Brazilian wonder kid prove to the world that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Messi? Well, if he completes Brazil's clean sweep on major trophies by winning Olympic Gold for his country, there's no reason why not. He has already got one over on Messi by beating him to the award for Goal Of The Year at the Puskas Award's 2011, with his skillful effort also being declared better than Wayne Rooney's sensational overhead kick against Manchester City. And if he can replicate this effort at the Olympics, Brazil will be taking home Gold.