2013-14 was something of a see-saw season for Neymar. Making his debut in European football following his big-money move to Barcelona last summer, the striker found life difficult at times and wasn't able to replicate the ferocious foal-scoring record he enjoyed in South America during his maiden campaign at the Nou Camp. An injury that saw him miss the final month of the La Liga season limited him to just 26 league appearances last term, though he was still able to conjure up a semi-respectable return of nine goals. Still, the pales into comparison to the 19 he struck while at Santos last year. Neymar was able to compensate for his relatively unimpressive goals return at club level by leading the Brazil national team to a third place play-off, scoring four goals at the finals in his home country to finish as the competition's third-highest goal-scorer. He may have managed more had his tournament not been curtailed by a worrying spinal injury during his country's quarter-final defeat to Colombia but his performances were still enough to warrant an increase of rating in FIFA 15, with EA apparently bumping up his score by two points from 84 in last year's game to 86 in the soon-to-be-released sequel. This is probably a fair reflection on his abilities considering he is already one of the world's best players at the age of just 22.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
