PUMA organized a Brazilian small-sided soccer event at the Hollywood Palladium for local youth players and fans that featured international soccer sensation Neymar Jr.
LOS ANGELES — Puma organized a Brazilian small-sided soccer event at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday for local youth players and fans that featured international soccer sensation Neymar.
The event included a 4×4 tournament-style street soccer played on two Brazil-inspired soccer pitches that over 200 players participated in.
Neymar, a Puma ambassador, attended the event to watch the football finals and showcase his new collaboration with Puma celebrating Copa America, which began earlier this week. The winning teams were rewarded with the unique opportunity to meet Neymar Jr. in person.
After the tournament, Neymar participated in a Q&A with Brazilian soccer journalist Isabela Pagliari in which he discussed the Puma Neymar Forever Brasileiro collection, his viewpoints on the USMNT’s performance in the tournament and the growth of the beautiful game in the United States.
To mark this summer of soccer and pay homage to his homeland, Neymar has curated a special collection featuring the Neymar COPA apparel and gear. The combination of playful street art and street soccer, emblematic of his own experiences growing up in Praia Grande playing soccer with his friends just as many Brazilian children do to this day, is the hallmark of this colorful collection.
Neymar’s own flare and personality shines through as well within the designs.
“Everything he does, he does with passion,” said David Beckham, who Neymar met with in Miami in March.
Photo credit: PUMA
Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in which Brazil were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Croatia, Neymar considered retiring from international football. However, he was eventually included in the team when they began their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup in September of last year.
In a 5-1 victory over Bolivia in the qualifiers in September 2023, Neymar Jr. scored his 78th and 79th international goals, surpassed his own childhood hero, the late and great soccer giant Pelé, and set a new record for the five-time world champions. Across his professional career, Pelé urged him to reach new heights, acted as his mentor and occasional guide, and sometimes challenged him — for instance, to try to play in as many professional matches (Pelé’s record stands at over 1300 in the Guinness Book of World Records, while Neymar’s is under 800).
His journey was cut short in a twist of fate shortly afterwards. Just five appearances into his time with his newest club, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, he suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in a qualifying loss to Uruguay. The resulting injury once again brought up feelings of retirement and despair for the former FC Barcelona star.
“But thanks to my family and friends, who were supportive in this difficult time,” he said. “Because they kept picking on me saying that I’m going to come back that I’m going to come back well, so that helped me a lot. I confess that if I didn’t have them in my life, I would have stopped playing.
“These months have been very difficult, and it is not an easy injury. … I think it’s even more mentally than anything else, so I had to prepare myself a lot mentally to be able to continue with the desire and passion to play.”
Despite having won titles with Santos, FC Barcelona, PSG and Brazil, including the Copa Libertadores, UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the 2016 Summer Olympics Gold, there is one elusive award he is still seeking: the FIFA World Cup. That achievement is still within his grasp with the 2026 FIFA World Cup still over two years away Currently the 32-year-old Vila Belmiro product is focused on one thing: complete recovery.
“I’m not in any rush, I want to go back whenever I want, but I have to be at one hundred percent.,” Neymar said.