Is Neymar really Brazil’s chosen one, or his he just empty flash?
Few players in history have had to face as much pressure at such a young age as Neymar da Silva Santos Junior. Then again, few are as gifted.
The line of succession of Brazilian greats leads straight to Neymar, a player who so brilliantly carries on his nation's tradition of improvisation and self-expression on the pitch, but who still needs to conquer the world with his country to stand alongside its legends.
Before he had turned 18, the world knew of Neymar's talents. He had found himself on Barcelona and Real Madrid's radars from the age of 12 years old, and various European superclubs attempted to take him from his homeland through all of his teenage years.
Born with the name Juninho, his was a natural talent passed down from his father — whose professional football career never reached great heights — and honed on the streets, beaches and futsal courts of Sao Vicente.
Footage of a young Neymar playing the indoor game quickly sheds light on how he developed his immense skills — his silky touch, famous trickery and nous around goal.
External Link: A young Neymar plays futsal in Brazil
Neymar was a tiny kid, slight of frame and shorter than most his age, but his agility, technique and speed had scouts purring.
He signed his first deal with local club Santos — the club that introduced Pele to the world — and set about building a reputation as a junior footballer in Brazil.
In 2009, at just 17 years of age, he made his professional debut with a whimsical cameo against Oeste.
Within a year, Brazilians were clamouring for the teenage prodigy to be included in the national team's squad for the 2010 World Cup.
Neymar scored five goals in one match for Santos in the Brazilian Cup, and was named player of the season as Santos went on to win the Campeonato Paulista.
Still, coach Dunga resisted naming him in his World Cup squad, and Brazil was eliminated at the quarter-final stage.
It was around this time the rumblings of a move to Europe became more serious, with Chelsea among the clubs to make a bid.
The London club was confident of securing his signature, with Neymar's agent confirming the player's desire to eventually leave Santos, but the time wasn't right. Neymar opted to stay in Brazil for the time being.
Comfortable at home, the goals, trophies and honours came by the barrowful.
Santos won the Campeonato Paulista in 2011 and 2012 and made history by winning the Copa Libertadores in 2011.
In all, he would score 136 goals in 223 appearances for Santos in a little over four years, win countless individual awards including the Copa Libertadores MVP and FIFA Puskas award for best goal of the year in 2011, and become a key member of the Brazil national team.
Neymar had more than arrived — he had exploded.
External Link: Neymar pulls out some of his trademark tricks
The time had come for the next step.
Spanish giant Barcelona came calling, a massive transfer fee was offered up, and Neymar was on the move.
At last, his talents would be tested on the European stage with one of the world's biggest clubs, surrounded by the best footballers on the planet.
Neymar's first season in Spain was one of acclimatisation, but also of physical and mental preparation.
The 2014 World Cup was fast approaching, and it was to be held in Brazil.
In a football-obsessed country which expects only the very best, Neymar was already a king — but now it was his responsibility to ensure the trophy ended up in the home team's hands.
He started the tournament well, scoring twice in the opener against Croatia and twice more later in the group stage against Cameroon.
Brazil and Neymar had serious momentum behind them as they reached a quarter-final against Colombia, but it was soon to halted.
Competing for an aerial ball late in the match, Neymar was kneed in the back by Juan Zuniga, and suffered a fractured vertebrae.
His World Cup was over, but it could have been worse. As Neymar would recount, doctors would tell him "two centimetres to the side, and football is over for you".
His absence was immediately felt in Brazil's cataclysmic 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany as tears poured all around the country, and especially in Neymar's home.
The last four years seem to have been a reaction from Neymar, all leading to this World Cup.
He became an even more fearsome player at Barcelona, and in a front three with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez won everything that was on offer.
He made a little bit more history in 2017, becoming the world's most expensive player when he moved from Messi's shadow in Barcelona to his very own limelight at Paris St Germain.
Neymar was ready to be the main man week in, week out and made a swift start to life in Paris, only for a broken foot to put the brakes on things.
And so the stage is once again set.
At 26 years old, the boy is now a man, and this tournament in Russia represents the best chance he will have to dominate a World Cup at the peak of his powers.
But questions persist — is the $300 million-man all style and no substance?
Will he even be fully fit?
Can Brazil even function with such attention-sucking figure at its heart?
The big questions will soon have answers.
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