Netflix recently released a three-part miniseries that explores Neymar’s childhood, career and personal life. In Neymar: The Perfect Chaos the winger himself and his father, among others, have their say.
In the documentary, Neymar is filmed around Christmas. The Brazilian is having dinner with a group of friends in Rio de Janeiro when his twelve-year-old son Davi calls him and asks him to come over. Neymar says he will stop by and hangs up. He proudly tells his friends that he has bought a scooter as a Christmas present for his son. However, Neymar announces a prank: he has taken the scooter out of the box and replaced it with books. “An idea from his mother,” Neymar laughs. “His mother said he doesn’t like going to school.”
Neymar and his ex Carolina Dantas, Davi’s mother, can be seen laughing as they discuss their plan. Davi is thrilled when Neymar walks in and flies into his father’s arms, but has reservations about the gift. Neymar films Davi as he unpacks the box. “Wow, a pile of books!” his mother shouts.
“How cool! You have to study hard.” Davi is in despair. The books will not help him with English lessons at school, he says. “They’re not even in English! You ruined it. They are not in English.” Neymar does not regain consciousness and then tells his son the truth.
Neymar can offer his son, at least financially, a better childhood than he had himself. He grew up in a poor neighborhood in Praia Grande, a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The documentary shows the street where Neymar played football.
“I remember being very happy there,” the attacker recalls. “I played with my friends in the street. We played in the slums, where people were humble and simple.” His father, himself a former amateur football player, adds: “We came from a poor family. We didn’t have the money to let that boy play football.”
When Neymar was still a youth player, his father had a big influence on him. “When my father sat in the stands it was like being inside my head. The angel and the devil on your shoulders, you know? That was my father. When I was little, his tips made a difference. He had experience as a player. It helped me excel.” Usually the fatherly advice was kind, but not always.
“My father rarely scolded me. He once asked, ‘Why didn’t you run?’ I said, “Well, the other kids weren’t running either, so I didn’t either.” The look he gave me… He was angry. I thought I screwed up.”
“I was really angry,” Neymar senior admits in the documentary, when asked about his son’s memories. “‘Now you’re going to run on your own,’ I said. ‘Idiot.’ I started berating him. “Are you contradicting me? You’re going to make sure you work hard. You have to make your teammates believe that you can do it. You have to motivate them.
Try to motivate them by running more than they do.” “That advice, and the anger, stayed with Neymar. He learned lessons from it. He looked so angry. He was angry because I had the same attitude as my teammates. That has always stayed with me.”
