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Neymar celebrating with teams at last year’s tournament. (Photo via M&C Saatchi)
For the third season, Neymar Jr and Red Bull have teamed up to bring Neymar Jr’s Five to countries and cities around the globe.
The tournament will see more than 14,000 five-a-side teams compete to decide who will reign as global male and female champions of the Brazilian legend’s signature tournament. In order to be crowned the champion, the winning team must survive rounds of 10 minutes of intense action, with no goalkeepers and the teams losing a player every time the opposition scores.
The two entities have also turned to social media to begin a worldwide search for two lucky fans to join Neymar Jr’s team in Brazil for a friendly match vs the male and female champions of his five-a-side tournament.
The contest coincides with the launch of a special edition Red Bull can featuring the Brazilian star and encourages individuals to submit creative photos, videos and boomerangs on Instagram using the hashtag #Neymarjrsteam, showcasing their skills and why they should be chosen to be a part of Neymar Jr’s team.
A year ago, more than 100,000 players from 53 countries took part in Neymar Jr’s Five, with Romania coming out victorious. The U.S. men’s finalists came from Chicago and they lost in the 2nd round of the World Finals in Brazil.
2017’s US winners (Photo via M&C Saatchi)
This year even more teams will compete at qualifiers for the chance to show off their skills at the World Final under the watchful eyes of Neymar Jr. at his Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in Praia Grande, Brazil.
In the U.S., the first qualifier kicks off in Atlanta on March 24 and the U.S. finals will take place in Miami for the third year in a row to decide who moves on to the World Finals in Brazil. In addition, the U.S. is hosting 50+ pre-qualifiers where teams can get accustomed to the innovative format and define strategies for success.
“I’m very happy to increase the number of players, the number of teams signing up and the number of countries has also increased,” said Neymar Jr. “It’s very big but I hope it can get even bigger. We have more teams than the World Cup, which has 32 teams. What makes me really excited is that each edition brings more players from more countries so I’m glad to know that everyone wants to participate, and I feel happy to be part of it, this is what excites me the most.
This piece has been presented to you by SMU’s Master of Science in Sport Management.
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