A strong candidate to follow in the footsteps of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in dominating world football.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior.
Commonly known as Neymar.
His full name is a bit complicated, but one word is all it takes to describe him.
Prodigy.
Neymar wasn't just a top prospect—he was the top prospect.
Brazil produces countless football talents, but Neymar's potential stood out among them all.
At present, Brazil had a few players being hailed as Ronaldo's successor, and Neymar was the leading candidate.
Though young, coaches who had seen Neymar play all said the same thing.
A god-given talent.
They claimed Neymar would carry the torch from the legendary line of Brazilian strikers: Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Adriano.
But now, that very Neymar felt threatened.
No way.
Ho-young's opening goal.
It wasn't due to a mistake.
Just bad luck.
Neymar's shot hit the crossbar, and the rebound landed with the opposition, leading to a counterattack.
But still.
This is ridiculous.
All Ho-young did to score was sprint with the ball.
The guy scored too easily, like it was nothing.
Meanwhile, Neymar had pulled out every trick in the book and still couldn't find the net.
"Phew."
Neymar was frustrated.
So much so, he could hardly believe what he saw.
No, he didn't want to believe it.
He clenched his fists and bit his lower lip hard.
So that's how it's going to be?
It was the kind of moment that could break one's fighting spirit, but for Neymar, it only fueled his competitiveness.
What followed was a fierce battle.
Both teams went back and forth, but Santos FC gradually began regaining momentum.
At the center of it all was Neymar.
Was there ever a genius quite like this?
Playing as a left winger, he constantly disrupted São Paulo FC's backline.
Every time he received the ball, his dribbling was top-tier, and the look on Breno's face aged ten years with every attempt to defend him.
If Pato was a player who exploited space, Neymar was a player who created it and tore it apart.
He was at his best when the ball was at his feet.
To make matters worse, Santos began to take control of the midfield.
Ganso, playing as a central midfielder, held firm in midfield battles and distributed passes forward effectively.
São Paulo's plan had been to neutralize Santos' front three with a 4-1-2-1-2 formation, using their four midfielders to dominate possession.
But failing to gain an edge in midfield made things extremely difficult.
"Casemiro! Drop the line deeper! Push the backline higher!"
Ho-young, reading the flow of the game, shouted loudly, but the São Paulo players were overwhelmed by Neymar's constant dribbling assaults.
"Hmph."
Coach Carlos twitched his moustache in frustration.
They're coming at us stronger than expected.
If the opponent pushed like this, he couldn't just sit still.
Carlos gave an order to his assistant coach.
"Drop Oscar into central midfield. Switch to a double pivot, and have Casemiro support the flanks defensively."
"Yes, sir."
The idea was to strengthen wide defense by using two defensive midfielders.
"And for attack progression..."
"Yes?"
"Let's funnel everything through Ho-young."
18 minutes into the first half.
As the game reached its midpoint, Neymar opened fire again.
Tap.
Got it.
He received a diagonal pass from Ganso with a flawless first touch.
Breno closed in to mark him one-on-one, and Casemiro hurried over to help.
The problem was, Neymar had already gotten past Breno before Casemiro arrived.
Tap!
A sudden change in direction.
Using his heel, Neymar sharply changed direction and opened up space.
A textbook heel chop.
He completely outmaneuvered Breno with the move.
It was a brilliant piece of skill and a total humiliation for the defender.
Thump!
After breaking through the center, Neymar calmly slotted the ball into the net.
"Aaah..."
Breno could only let out a sigh. The bus had already passed, and he was left behind.
The first half, which had been rather one-sided, ended in a 2-2 draw.
Ho-young scored both goals for São Paulo.
Neymar and Gabigol scored one each for Santos.
It was an electrifying match, with no clear superior. It could go either way.
But for defenders, it was a nightmare.
This is driving me nuts...
Inside the locker room, Breno sat silently, his head lowered in despair.
Still, as team captain, he couldn't allow himself to drag down the mood.
I just can't stop him.
His shoulders were heavy.
He had even gone through special training in recent days just to stop Neymar, but it still wasn't enough.
Well, that's football for you. Things rarely go as planned.
Flop.
Breno's shoulders slumped.
Then, quietly, a teammate approached and patted him on the back.
"Breno."
"Ho-young?"
It was Ho-young.
As a forward, there wasn't much he could say about defensive mistakes, but he could always offer a few words of encouragement.
They were teammates, after all.
"It's okay. We're not even losing. And without you, we probably would've conceded two more goals."
"Phew..."
"If we concede, I'll just score again, so don't stress too much. Let's stick to what we've prepared. We trained hard for this, right?"
"Yeah... you're right... thanks."
They say the best defense is a good offense.
In that sense, Ho-young was Breno's strongest pillar of support.
Santos FC had always been a powerhouse.
With a longer history than São Paulo FC, they had the fourth-highest revenue among Brazilian clubs and were the fourth most popular in the São Paulo region.
Not to mention, this was the club where Pelé once played and which produced Robinho as his heir.
Their identity was clear.
Relentless offense.
Santos was known for entertaining football, prioritizing on-the-ball play and attacking football, even as defensive-minded pragmatic play became a global trend.
Neymar was seen as the heir to Pelé and Robinho.
But today, Neymar found it difficult to focus solely on offense.
Because Santos' defense was too shaky.
Their defenders occasionally allowed Ho-young to break through.
"Why aren't you stopping him? Just give him some space and defend properly!"
Neymar, fed up, lashed out at the defenders.
Eventually, Coach Pamela made a change.
Bringing on Luis Felipe, a fast defender with great positioning.
At 15, he was already the team's centre-back.
In terms of pure defending, he could easily hold his own in any U15 league worldwide.
His reflexes and anticipation were particularly strong, making him excellent in one-on-one duels.
"Keep some space between you and him. Stay focused every second. One slip is all it takes."
"Don't worry. No matter what, I'll stop him."
Not long after Felipe was subbed in, São Paulo regained possession.
It was a similar situation to when Ho-young scored the opening goal.
São Paulo launched a counterattack.
Smack!
Felipe had to stop Ho-young, who was sprinting forward with a long dribble.
I'll stop him no matter what.
Felipe had joined special training with the defenders days earlier.
Coach Pamela had specifically ordered him to find a way to stop Ho-young.
Zap.
Felipe narrowed his eyes and measured the distance.
I need to leave space. His biggest weapon is that burst acceleration.
He had watched Ho-young's match footage repeatedly.
That explosive drive, powered by his long legs, was even more threatening than Alexandre Pato.
And today, he looked even better than before.
Is this guy on something?
So he focused even harder.
Thump.
As the distance between them closed, tension rose.
Focus. Don't lose it.
Felipe cleared his mind.
He kept his eyes on Ho-young.
In man-marking, it's crucial to ensure the attacker doesn't get closer to the goal than the defender.
He kept that in mind while staying aware of his surroundings.
He'll probably try a through ball to Douglas Costa on the right.
Ho-young had a high assist rate, and he was likely to go for a team play.
Felipe slightly closed the gap to cut off the passing lane.
Even so, he didn't take his eyes off the ball, ready for a sudden dribble.
It was the right choice for Felipe.
Hesitation.
At that moment, Ho-young's foot paused.
Felipe's leg twitched reflexively.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Just a little longer. Hold on.
If he could hold out just one more second, the defense would have time to reset.
But then.
Glance.
Their eyes met in midair.
A mental battle.
Would he pass? Turn back and build up slowly?
Everything depended on Ho-young's next decision.
Felipe tried to read his eyes.
But.
Tch.
It was too late.
Right after that brief mental standoff, Ho-young made his move.
It wasn't a dribble or a pass.
It was a skill move.
Whoosh!
One of the moves Ho-young had been practicing for months.
Draw-back.
He pulled the ball slightly back with clean technique, then quickly shifted it forward with his left foot.
Suddenly, a new passing angle opened.
Ho-young didn't miss the opportunity and slid a through ball to the left.
Smack!
A killer pass that tore open the defensive line.
The offside trap was broken cleanly, and Douglas Costa burst into the space.
Damn it.
Felipe couldn't react.
It felt like a brick had hit the back of his head.
Ho-young hadn't shown any skill moves in the match footage, so he hadn't considered that possibility.
A surprise move like that had never crossed his mind.
He expected a risky dribble at most, but he was completely wrong.
"Damn it..."
Felipe could only groan in frustration, but it was too late.
19th minute of the second half.
Douglas capitalized on the one-on-one with the goalkeeper and fired a clean shot into the net.
Beep!
The seesaw battle finally tipped in one team's favor.
São Paulo FC.
With Ho-young's 2 goals and 1 assist, they secured a 3-2 victory.
On the other hand, Neymar managed only one goal.
That was why Ho-young's face was now lit up with joy.
[Neymar]
[Possessed Talents: Football Prodigy (S-), Genius Dribbling (A+3), Creative Flair (A), Exceptional Flexibility (A-), Sharp Decision-Making (A-)]
(View more)
(You can obtain one talent by fulfilling the following conditions.)
(Football Prodigy (S-) requires a hidden condition.)
(Condition 1: Win the match)
(Condition 2: Score more goals than Neymar)
(Condition 3: Be selected as Man of the Match)
(Hidden condition: Unlocked upon acquiring one or more talents)
At just 13 years old, Neymar possessed dazzling talents.
A prodigy.
A child who displays outstanding genius from a young age.
Like Neymar.
For now, I'll start with dribbling.
Genius Dribbling (A+3).
He would be able to acquire it by tonight.
He was all but guaranteed to be named Man of the Match.
(To be continued.)