Lightning struck the Brazilian city of Santos more than twice, as the port town just 60 kilometres from the sprawling metropolis of Sao Paulo rejoices the success of its newest footballing superstar: Neymar.

Back in 2010 or early 2011, I commented on a series of forecasts made by U.S. agency JWT involving Brazil and one of the would be the rise of Neymar (read the post here) and how groundbreaking would be his staying in Brazil for a longer period as Neymar would (and has so) become the world’s first ”emerging” soccer celebrity and is always listed as one of the world’s top footballers.

Time connects the rise of the young Neymar and the booming economy (far from booming now) that has brought Brazil into the global spotlight. The magazine also makes a naïve comparison when labeling Neymar as the Next Pelé.

Nobody will ever be Pelé, but himself. But nobody can deny that this young man is already a marketing phenomenon way beyond the Brazilian borders and his staying in Brazil has contributed to the emergence of the local football both in technical terms (less relevant to this post) but also in marketing and investment terms (more revenue, more sponsors, more big foreign names interested in BR football, consequently bringing more sponsors and more investments in a - hopefully - virtuous cycle). 

Another important fact is that Neymar has always been oriented by his father and his behavior in and out of the pitch has been remarkable, posing him as a true example of success to the younger generations, not only as a succesful athlete, but also as a succesful person as a whole.

Unilever, Panasonic to name a few, did not miss the opportunity as nowadays in Brazil, just about every brand would like to have Neymar’s endorsement.

Note: Tumblr is not uploading the Time Cover snapshot, but you can see  it by clicking here.

(Source: TIME)