Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, Lionel Messi’s student, the N in the infamous MSN trio and, more importantly, is Barcelona’s future. However, when he first arrived, people were worried that Neymar would be the next Robinho – a brilliant dribbler who scored highlight goals every now and then but then dropped off the planet.
But the Brazilian looked comfortable in Barcelona’s 4-3-3 and showed enough composure, rather than dribbling into blind alleys and picked his moments of glory.
Since the arrival of Suarez however, Neymar has changed and taken his game to another level but at the same, he has scored brilliant goals over the course of his career, including a few sensational goals before he joined the Camp Nou club.
Here ar the five best goals scored by the Brazilian sensation.
#5 Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano – 2014-15 La Liga
Less than two minutes left in the game but Barcelona had already completed the rout, led by Leo Messi who had already put two past the opposition goalkeeper before assisting another, to give the hosts a 5-0 lead. However, Barcelona weren’t done yet and in what should have been just a simple game of just playing out the remaining time, Barcelona being Barcelona, went on another attack.
Iniesta played a simple pass to Neymar from inside the Blaugrana's box and the Catalans were on the counter. The Brazilian then proceeded to glide past his defender (albeit recovering after a slip) and instead of playing it to any one of the four possible players in and around the Vallencano box, Neymar proceeded to audaciously have a go from just about 30 yards out.
The Brazilian had struggled to impress in his first season with the club and until that moment had 6 goals to his name in the league and had even missed the last four games through injury. So no one expected the ball to curl with incredible pace and accuracy before finding it’s spot in the top corner, but that's exactly what it did.
#4 Brazil vs Japan – 2013 Confederation Cup
Less than three minutes into the first game of the 2013 Confederations Cup and Brazil already had the upper hand against Japan. Marcelo with the ball at his feet on the edge of the left wing prepared to send it in towards Fred.
The pressure was all on Brazil because as the hosts of the 2014 World Cup, they had made the cut for the Confederation Cup, but despite that, they were always going to be the favourites at any tournament.
The ball comes in from the Los Blancos left-back and it comes in with pace, pinpoint towards Fred. The Fluminense forward chested it down, ready to take possession, but Neymar had other ideas.
With all the pressure on his shoulders of wearing the iconic No. 10 jersey, the 24-year-old timed his shot to perfection and half-volleyed the ball past the helpless Japanese keeper, landing right on the Puskas list for the second time in as many years, but losing out to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
#3 Barcelona vs Villareal – 2015-16 La Liga
It took the Messi-less Barcelona team nearly 60 minutes to break the deadlock against Villareal back in 2015 but when they did, the home side tore apart the Yellow Submarines, scoring three goals in the process, with Neymar putting two past the keeper. The first of the lot, was preceded by a brilliant pass and all the Brazilian man had to do was finish it, and he did that brilliantly all season, providing for Barcelona in Messi’s absence.
Suarez soon put the second past the keeper from the spot before the Brazilian was at it again, but this time with a goal of the season contender. On the counter attack, the Neymar controlled the ball in from Luis Suarez and calmly and coolly flicked the ball over his head with such elegance.
The Brazilian wasn’t done yet and he made the most of his chance and flashed a volley past Areola, who was had no chance whatsoever, and neither did the Villareal defenders. The Barcelona side had their win and Luis Enrique looked a relieved man, as the home side survived another day without Lionel Messi.
#2 Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain – 2016-17 Champions League last 16
Nobody gave them a chance, not even the staunchest of fans looked hopeless but after Barcelona put three past PSG to reduced the deficit to 3-4, people looked up. But then came Edinson Cavani and the Uruguayan volleyed home the only game for the away side in the 62nd minute, and the game was as good as over; Barcelona would need three more goals if they even wanted to peak at the next round.
That’s when Neymar stepped up and changed the course of the Barcelona’s game, and with that, put to rest any doubts, which all started with a sensational free-kick. It wasn’t the first time that he’d scored from a set-piece, and wasn’t the first time he’d scored from that angle, but it was the first time that the pressure on that one kick would have been incredible.
For the Brazilian, it never mattered and as Kevin Trapp set up his wall looking extremely confident with the ball a little over 30 yards away from his goal, Neymar was the definition of calm.
It only took two steps, with no hint of a run-up and the ball curled past the wall, met the back of the net and bounced to a rest, as Barcelona proceeded to shock Paris Saint-Germain for the second time.
#1 Santos vs Flamengo – Brasileirao 2011
There never was going to be another number one, was there? Neymar won the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal in 2011, beating off Wayne Rooney’s overhead kick and Lionel Messi’s audacious chip. While playing for Santos, the Brazilian went on a brilliant solo run that started after the keeper booted the ball towards the center.
The Brazilian began by beating two defenders before knocking the ball forward towards the striker who simply returned it to the 19-year-old. Neymar then proceeded to muscle off his marker, outrageously beating the helpless defender (his last obstacle) before simply placing the ball in the back of the net, ignoring the fact that two defenders were charging him down from either side with the intention of taking him out.
In the end, he was awarded the FIFA Puskas for the most aesthetically significant and most beautiful goal of the year (or so Wikipedia says). But the cherry on the top was the fact that all this happened in front of Ronaldinho, a footballing great in his own way.
