We Should Entertain The Possibility That Neymar Is Good As Advertised

Last month, it was announced that Brazilian soccer star Neymar was sold to FC Barcelona. We were excited, because the 21-year-old is the best and most hyped prospect in the world, and might already be the best player on the planet outside of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of course, there's no way of knowing how good he is or he'll be, since he hasn't played on a weekly basis against the world's best in Europe. That doesn't mean that he's not as good as some say he already is. We just don't know.

Still, some of us (read: you) are skeptical or smoking dope, and think he's overrated and will be out of his depth in Spain, because he's small, or he dives a lot, or something (dumb) like that.

But all the kid has done his entire career is score against any and all players who line up across from him. And in this month's Confederations Cup, we've seen him do the same while wearing the storied #10 jersey for Brazil. It took Neymar all of three minutes to score a spectacular right-footed volley against Japan last weekend in the tournament's opening game. Still, we (read: you) were unimpressed.

Today, he scored a great left-footed volley 10 minutes into Brazil's match against Mexico, and outdid himself in the 90th minute, when he tore apart two Mexican defenders on the end line then passed a ball across the six to assist the goal which put the game out of reach. You can see both goals above.

We know. It's only Japan and Mexico, you're thinking. The doubters will doubt, and the haters are legion. But this is international soccer—the sport's grandest stage—and he's making it look like he's still playing against teams in the Brasileirão. Which is why we're saying maybe we (read: you) should hop on the bandwagon now. Just in case, you know, he's really that good.