Neymar and Ganso Fire Santos To 3-0 Victory Over Guarani In Campeonato Paulista Final, First Leg

Santos defeated Guarani 3-0 in the first leg of the final of the Campeonato Paulista, Sao Paulo’s professional soccer league. Playing away, Santos went ahead in the 42nd minute thanks to a spectacular left-footed strike by Paulo Henrique Ganso. The ever dangerous Neymar set up Ganso’s goal by cutting the ball back after bursting down the left flank. Ganso sent a rocket into the top left corner of the net from just outside the penalty box. Neymar made the score 2-0 in the 65th minute by coolly finishing off an attacking play involving Ganso in the box. The Guarani keeper did well to force the ball away from Ganso, but was unable to stop Neymar’s shrewd placement of his shot in the lower right corner of the net. Finally, in the dying minutes of injury time, Neymar collected a cross delivered from the right flank, in the box, beat his defender and unleashed a thunderous shot to create a bulge in the roof of the net for his second goal of the evening. The spiky haired Santos sensation celebrated his second goal by collapsing on the field in a gesture of exhaustion after a heroic performance in the crucial first leg of the Paulista championship final.

Santos have now all but secured the Paulista championship for the third consecutive year. The second leg of the final will be played at Santos on May 13. Neymar and Ganso will then likely be called up for international duty in Brazil's friendly against Denmark in Hamburg, Germany on May 26. Santos's recent run of form has revealed Ganso's ability to function not just as a playmaker, but also as an attacking midfielder with the courage and ability to score from long range in ways that recall the genius of Rivaldo.

Neymar Scores Hat-Trick As Santos Defeat Sao Paulo 3-1

Neymar scored a brilliant hat-trick to give Santos a 3-1 victory over Sao Paulo in the semi-final of the Paulista Championship. The 20 year old wunderkid has now scored 102 goals for Santos, behind only Joao Paulo and Serginho Chulapa in the post-Pele era. Neymar recently surpassed Robinho’s achievement of 94 goals for Santos in March. In today’s match against Sao Paulo, Neymar opened his account with a penalty kick in the third minute. Roughly thirty minutes later, in trademark fashion, Ganso found Neymar and the Santos striker coolly slotted the ball home after beating Sao Paulo defender Paulo Miranda. Despite their lead, Santos struggled to take charge of the match and remained on the counter-attack as they conceded a goal to Willian Jose in the 63rd minute and then came close to allowing an equalizer from a spectacular Cicero free kick. But in the 77th minute, Neymar delivered a rocket of a long range shot that the keeper ended up parrying into his own net.

As Neymar grows in confidence, the football world will await with baited breath the verdict on his ability to beat European and African defenders in international competition. While Neymar has ample experience with highly physical matches in South American competition such as the Copa Libertadores, much of Brazil’s fortunes at this year’s Olympics will hinge on whether the Santos starlet can perform at the same level that he does for his club, for his country in London this summer.

Neymar Wins 2011 FIFA Puskas Award

Santos striker Neymar added the FIFA Puskas Award 2011 to his growing list of honors and accomplishments. Neymar beat Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney for the award for the greatest goal of the year based on votes from more than 1.3 million FIFA.com users. Neymar scored his sensational goal in a nine goal thriller against Flamengo last July by picking up the ball on the left, overcoming two Flamengo players, playing a one two with a Santos teammate and then fending off two more defenders before sliding as he put the ball in the back of the net. Neymar described his goal as “the best goal I’ve ever scored" even though Flamengo won 5-4. Turkish midfielder Hamit Altintop won the FIFA Puskas Award in 2o10.

Neymar Voted South American Player of 2011

Santos striker Neymar earned the distinction of South American Player of Year according to a vote organized by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais. Neymar won the award by receiving 130 votes out of 247 from South American journalists, 60 more than second place winner Eduardo Vargas of Chile. Santos midfielder Paulo Henrique Ganso took third place with 33 votes while Uruguayan and Tijuana midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios took fourth. No Brazilian has won the award since Romario in 2000. Neymar’s achievement caps a phenomenal year for the 19 year old Brazilian. Neymar led Santos to victory in the Copa Libertadores and Paulista championships. He also spearheaded Santos’s journey to the Club World Cup Final in Japan, where Santos lost 4-0 to Barcelona. Neymar won the trophy by the most lopsided margin in the history of the award and succeeds 2010 winner Andres D'Alessandro of Argentina. The list of the top five winners is as follows:

1. Neymar (Santos) 130 votes
2. Eduardo Vargas (Univ.de Chile) 70 votes
3. Paulo Ganso (Santos) 33 votes
4. Egidio Arévalo (Xolos de Tijuana)
5. Rolando Schiavi (Boca Juniors)

El Pais's South American dream team features the following four Argentines, three Chileans, two Brazilians and one player each from Uruguay and Ecuador:

Johnny Herrera (Univ.de Chile) | Chile
Néicer Reasco (LDU Quito) | Ecuador
Marcos González (Univ.de Chile) | Chile
Rolando Schiavi (Boca Juniors) | Argentina
Clemente Rodríguez (Boca Juniors) | Argentina
Egidio Arévalo (Xolos de Tijuana) | Uruguay
Paulo Ganso (Santos) | Brazil
Juan Riquelme (Boca Juniors) | Argentina
Eduardo Vargas (Univ.de Chile) | Chile
Hernán Barcos (LDU Quito) | Argentina
Neymar (Santos) | Brazil

The South American Footballer of the Year originated from Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo. El Mundo presided over the award from 1971 to 1985, before the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais took over stewardship of the award in 1986. The most lopsided result of the South American Player of the Year, prior to Neymar, was Juan Sebastian Veron in 2009, when the Argentine garnered 109 votes.

Ramalho Praises Neymar Ahead of Santos's Club World Cup Semifinal

Santos coach Muricy Ramalho claimed Neymar’s talent was comparable to that of Brazil legends Zico, Rivelino and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane. In an interview with Globoesporte.com, Ramalho claimed that Neymar’s talent was “absurd” and stemmed from his ability to “see a play before others do.” Ramalho made his remarks ahead of Santos’s initial game in the Club World Cup against Kashiwa Resyol on Wednesday. In the other Club World Cup semifinal, Barcelona play Al-Sadd on Thursday. If Santos and Barcelona both win their respective matches, the final of the Club World Cup will feature a mouthwatering clash between Santos and Barcelona, and by extension, Neymar vs. Lionel Messi. Ramalho conceded that Barcelona would always garner at least 65% of ball possession but noted that Santos could win based on Neymar's brilliance, slick passing from Elano and Ganso, and aerial balls that destabilize Barca's defense.