At the 2022 World Cup, Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr. reached 77 goals for Brazil, equalling the tally set by arguably the greatest to play the beautiful game: the late, great Pelé.
In Puma short ‘History Doesn’t Repeat Itself’ Neymar talks about his journey and what it means for him to reach such a prestigious milestone, dedicating his achievement to Pelé and all the people who have helped him get there.
Pelé has been an idol and inspiration to Neymar since he first dreamed of playing football. The PSG player has spoken of his admiration for Pelé and how he does not want to be compared to his hero because history doesn’t repeat itself. Instead, we honour and celebrate our heroes from the past and look to inspire a new generation of heroes yet to be crowned.
"For the production of the film, the team had access to Neymar Jr's personal collection where they found photos of family, friends, medals, trophies, school notebooks, tickets from his first trips to Barcelona and Paris and much more” said director Del Reginato. “In the middle of it all, they found images like the moment he signed his first contract with Santos F.C., his first goal as a professional player, and a drawing he made on the back cover of his school notebook where he portrayed Pelé in a moment of celebration and wrote Neymar on the back on top of the number 10. The campaign has an intimate feeling, a tribute to Pelé and portrays the moment when Neymar Jr finds the notebook years later.”