Soccer
Neymar Jr. on family life: “I always wanted to be a girl dad”
Neymar Jr. opens up about life beyond football, sharing rare family moments and a behind-the-scenes look at how a world-class athlete really spends his day off.
“It’s my day off, the house is a mess, the kids are everywhere,” says Neymar Jr. as he opens the doors to his house in the latest episode of his new YouTube series, where he lets the viewer in on what the day-to-day life of a pro football player really looks like.
Neymar Jr. is sitting on the floor, surrounded by toys and three small girls: Mavie, Mel and Helena. “Being dad of a girl was always my dream,” he says. “God blessed me with three. I’m really happy, truly. Three little princesses”.
It’s a rest day for Neymar Jr., but that doesn’t mean football is far away. The Santos pro goes in for treatment on his legs, hits the gym, jumps on calls with his athletic coaches. If Neymar Jr. is not training with his team, he has to take care of his body, eat the right things, do recovery exercises.
What it takes to be one of the greatest football players of a generation
Downtime with family and friends is important
© Red Bull
A “day off” is never truly a day off. For Neymar Jr. it’s just another kind of work. He has lived this way for most of his life.
“I’ve worked since I was little, since I was very young”, he says. “When I was 13 or 14 years old, I didn’t travel with school. I didn’t go to the movies at night, because I couldn’t, because there was training or a game the next day.”
He doesn’t pretend it was easy. “I used to say, 'damn, all my friends are at school and I’m just here at home, staring at the ceiling at home'. But there was a reason, a purpose. And I understood that.”
The sacrifice came with its own reward. Neymar Jr. continues: “Was I upset? I was upset! But the next day, I was happy, because I was playing football. I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years now – it’s a hell of a price to be a player.”
Everybody can have a bad day
Neymar Jr. opens the doors to his home in a new YouTube series
© Diego Sanches/Red Bull Content Pool
The balance between being just like everybody else and being at the top of the football world is the real cost – and the outside world seem to forget that a professional player is still just a person with feelings like everyone else.
“I’m a human being and I have feelings everybody does, too”, says Neymar Jr. “I suffer, I feel pain. I wake up in a bad mood, I cry, I get pissed off, I get happy – I’m normal.”
Get the full story with unfiltered access as Neymar Jr. invites us to join him on a day off.