With the Spanish League currently on a winter break, Barcelona wonderkid Neymar took the chance to head back home to Brazil to take part in a special charity match against former Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan star Leonardo.
Friends of Neymar beat the Friends of Leonardo team 8-6 with Neymar scoring five goals and showing why he was so high on Barcelona’s transfer targets.
The 21-year-old returns to Spain in early January as Barca continue their campaign for domestic and European trophies, after which he has a World Cup in his homeland in July to prepare for.
The match was played in Gioania, Brazil, which is not one of the host cities for next summers World Cup Finals. Goinania lost out to the clout of Brasilia, the country’s modern capital.
Neymar is enjoying his time at home, his break being slightly extended after being suspended for the final match before the winter break.
His five goals were made to look easy by his standards and after helping Barcelona to knock Celtic out of Europe in the group stage of the Champions League his next target is to pose a threat to Manchester City when they meet at the Etihad on February 18 for the first leg of their Round of 16 European Cup clash.
By Rory Whitelaw
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