Football season not over yet as Neymar Jr’s Five takes centre stage in Brazil.
Neymar Jr is getting ready to step back out on the football field as the second big tournament of his summer fast approaches.
After the disappointment of a World Cup quarter-final exit to Belgium, which he described as ‘the saddest moment of my career’, the Brazilian will lace up his boots once again for the third edition of his signature five-a-side football tournament at Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in his hometown of Praia Grande.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward returned from foot surgery and a three-month injury layoff to score two goals and help Brazil to the last eight as they bid for a sixth title in Russia.
Now back home, goals and skills are the main focus once again as the 26-year-old welcomes the best five-a-side teams around the globe to Brazil to contest the World Final of Neymar Jr’s Five between 20-21 July. Here is all you need to know:
-Over 125,000 players signed up for a qualifier in this year’s competition as elite five-a-side players battled it out in 62 countries across six continents.
-Some of the urban locations where players have shown their skills this year in qualifiers and national finals include Baku, Lima, Paris, Miami and Singapore.
-The national champions will get the chance to pit their wits against each other at the World Final – held for the third time at Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in Praia Grande, Brazil.
-There are five players on each team with no goalkeepers and, every time someone scores, their opponents lose one player until 10 frenetic minutes are up or one team runs out of players.
-The 2018 tournament is open to teams of five to seven players aged 16 to 25 with each team allowed two players over 25 in their squad, while a new women’s competition has been launched in addition to the mixed tournament as well.
-Neymar Jr said: “What makes me really excited is that each edition brings more players from more countries so I’m glad to know that everyone wants to participate, and I feel happy to be part of it, this is what excites me the most.”
-In 2016, a team from Brazil were crowned world champions while Romania scooped the prize in 2017 and got to visit Neymar Jr in Paris in October.
-In previous years, Neymar Jr has brought some famous football friends such as Gabriel Jesus to play alongside him against the new world champions.
Follow the World Final live on www.neymarjrsfive.com
About Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr
The location of the World Final, Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr, is a private, non-profit association dedicated to social causes, set up by Neymar Jr and his family. It is located in Jardim Glória, in Praia Grande, where Neymar Jr spent much of his childhood. The Institute is an 8,400m2 education and sporting complex catering for 2,470 underprivileged children aged 7-14 and their families.
Competing Countries
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Cyprus, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Marocco, Mauritius, Republic of Moldova, Mexico, Namibia, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA
FREE CONTENT FOR EDITORIAL USE (News & Reports)
-News Cut (22/07/2018) via satellite & download www.satdetails.com
-Selects of several participating countries for download
-Clips for www/social, photos & press releases (different languages) for download
www.redbullcontentpool.com/neymarjrsfive
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