Neymar makes Santos debut

Also see Neymar: the next Robinho or just another Lulinha?

17-year-old star in the making, Neymar, was finally unleashed on the world stage when he came off the bench in Santos’ 2-1 over Oeste.

Neymar was handed his first start early in the second-period. Despite the colossal media interest, the youngster had a reasonable game and even hit the woodwork – though the ‘shot’ was clearly a miss-hit cross.

The teenager, who only turned pro in January, has long been touted as the new Robinho. Aware of the interest from Europe’s big spenders, Santos have slapped a rather hefty €30 million price tag on his head.

Last week, the forward extended his contract with Santos until 2014. But the deal involved the sports investment company, Groupo Sonda, who now own 40% of the player.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior is only 1.74m and weighs just 54 kilos but his technical ability and speed more than compensate for his lack of height and bulk.

Santos, though, will be hoping that Neymar does not go the way of so many teenage sensations that have emerged in Brazil in recent years. Both the club and Neymar will be all too aware of players such as Lulinha at Corinthians who showed some promise but were over hyped and failed to live up to expectations.

See the highlights of Oeste 1-2 Santos here

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