BARCELONA
France Football places Neymar ahead of Messi and Cristiano
The Brazilian takes pride of place on the front cover of the bi-weekly. Dubbed the “leader of the Youtube generation” the 24-year-old is wowing the world of football with his goal tallies.
The front cover of renowned bi-weekly France Football features Neymar this week. Today’s impending Spanish High Court testimony aside, the Brazilian has been in the spotlight this season for his electrifying on-the-pitch performances and is gaining more plaudits than ever. In terms of his extensive highlights reel package and ever-growing goals tally, the Barcelona number 11 could well possibly be the best player in La Liga. Running with the headline “at full speed”, the prestigious French publication notes how quickly Neymar is catching up with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to position himself as the beautiful game’s star attraction.
With the former Santos forward three days away from turning 24, France Football took the opportunity to compare his numbers with those of Cristiano and Messi at the same age. According to the soccer chronicle Neymar has notched up 257 goals in 413 matches (an average of 0.62 goals per game), thereby bettering Messi’s 196 in 325 (0.60) and Ronaldo’s 132 in 362 (0.36) before either had celebrated their 24th birthdays.
Dubbing the South American phenomenon the “leader of the Youtube generation”, France Football points to him being Brazil’s great hope in their bid to reclaim their place on the footballing throne at the upcoming World Cup in Russia. According to the feature the changing of the guard is well underway in terms of the Ballon d’Or and predicts that the samba star will be the frontrunner for the 2016 gong.