Neymar Jr. Launches Music Career, What Does This Mean For FC Barcelona’s Brazilian Forward?
Brazilian professional footballer Neymar Jr. launched his musical career on social media on Sunday.
The FC Barcelona forward made the announcement on Twitter a day after his team’s shocking 2-1 defeat to Deportivo Alavés.
Neymar, who recently joined his Barcelona teammates after representing Brazil in the 2016 Rio Olympics, also revealed that his first song would be released on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old did not reveal the title of his debut song, which is scheduled to be released a day after Barcelona’s upcoming Champions League match against Celtic. However, Neymar’s tweet revealed that the song would be premiered on his Facebook page.
“This Wednesday I begin my music career and I’m going to release my first song on Facebook,” a translation of Neymar’s tweet originally written in Portuguese reads.
“We will have ‘Neymusico’. Share it,” he added.
Neymar is not the first high-profile footballer to dabble in music. The former Brazilian captain, who has been photographed with famous musicians like Justin Bieber and at music concerts in Brazil, is not even the first footballer from the country to veer into the music industry.
Brazilian legend Pele, who is Neymar’s mentor, has flirted with music in the past. Pele, like Neymar, played for Brazilian club Santo FC and also recorded and released music. Another Brazilian soccer legend, Ronaldinho, who recently announced his retirement, also veered into the music industry.
Ronaldinho not only released an album, but the former Barcelona ace, who has appeared in a Brazilian pop music video, is known for his skill in playing the Brazilian percussion, Guardian reported.
Argentinean Carlos Tevez, who now plays with Boca Juniors, and Spanish PSG forward Jese Rodriguez Ruiz are examples of current players who have managed to juggle focusing on the field and performing on stage.
Tevez, who had spells in England with several clubs, including Manchester United and Manchester City, is the lead singer of Piola Vago, an Argentinean band. While former Real Madrid player Ruiz, who now plays in France, doubles as a Reggaeton rapper who goes by the stage name Jey-.M.
Neymar long has always expressed his love and admiration for Brazilian pop music particularly “Musica Sertaneja” and “Pagodas.” The striker is not a stranger to big stages and flashing lights. Neymar is reportedly taking piano lessons. According to Marca, he used social media to look for piano tutors.
Although Neymar’s passion for soccer and music is evident, it is unclear if the striker can balance both careers successfully.
FC Barcelona’s coach Luis Enrique may want Neymar to fully concentrate not only on the upcoming Champions League fixture against Scotland’s Celtic, but also on the entire season.
On Saturday, Enrique’s men lost their first league match at home to a newly-promoted team. Neymar played his first match for Barcelona in the shocking Alavés defeat, which puts them three points behind arch rivals Real Madrid.
After the game, Enrique, who has been coaching Barcelona for two seasons, accepted the blame for the defeat. This was his fifth home loss in over 100 games, BBC reported.
“We lacked fluidity, precision and we were fragile in defense, which is one of the things that normally makes us strong,” Enrique said.
Enrique, a former Barcelona player, would be looking for Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Luiz Suarez to rediscover the goalscoring form that made them feared last season.
The South American trio broke their scoring world record after netting 131 goals in all competition in the 2015/16 season. The Trio nicknamed “MSN” by football fans scored about nine more goals than their previous 122 record in the 2014/15 season.
Neymar led the Brazilian team to secure the gold medal at the recently concluded 2016 Rio Olympics.
