Among the few Brazilians who have more goals than Neymar are Zico, Romario and Ronaldo, longtime heroes in the land of soccer.
Neymar reached his 40th goal after scoring four times in a friendly against Japan last month, and in the coming weeks he has a chance to move closer to Zico's mark of 48 goals when Brazil plays friendlies against Turkey and Austria. Romario has 55 goals in official matches with the Selecao, while Ronaldo had 62.
"We both came from Santos FC where we developed the same set of skills: creativity, passing, clinical finishing and, of course, insatiable hunger for goals," Pele told the AP.
While Pele spent most of his career in Brazil, Neymar was quick to move to European soccer. He went straight from Santos to Barcelona, and it didn't take long for him to start succeeding alongside the likes of Lionel Messi.
In Brazil, many say Neymar already has what it takes to become the best player in the world.
"Maybe it won't happen this year, but by next year he will be named the best in the world, I'm certain," former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira told Brazilian media recently. "He's already an idol."
