The Santos striker Neymar has been regarded as one of the best players in the world, but not in the eyes of everyone. There have been suggestions that the 20-year-old has not yet proved himself at the highest level possible. He has repeatedly avoided the opportunity to join a big European club in order to stay in Brazil. However, the Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is of the opinion that Neymar will be equal to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2013 season. Neymar has only stated that he would be willing to leave Brazilian football only after the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The arrival of Scolari means that there are likely to be a few changes with regard to the team selection. Even though Neymar will be the central figure to the plans of Scolari, it remains to be seen if he can match the players from Europe. Scolari has also identified several key youngsters for the Brazilian national team. He has said that he will see in the future whether the likes of Oscar of Chelsea and Lucas Mora of PSG will progress in the same way that they have did in recent years. Scolari will be naming his first squad since taking over the job as the national team manager.
“I’m 99% sure, next year Neymar will be among the top three. Not just the current season, but also over the past two or three years. Neymar has been excellent in 2011 and 2012, and will probably be even better in 2013. In 10 years, we had probably five great players, but in the last two or three years they were not at the top. In 2013, Neymar will be for sure. Lets see how it goes for Lucas Moura in Paris, I see Oscar is playing very well,” said Scolari.