Copa America 2011: Neymar's the daddy... but Brazil need a golden Goose
49 DAYS TO GO: 19-year-old announces he's going to be a dad. This was the top sport story running on Brazilian websites for much of yesterday.
It shows just how big the obsession with Neymar has become.
After announcing on facebook that he had got a 17-year-old girl pregnant, he flew back from Santos's Copa Libertadores win in Colombia and landed to a scene more befitting The Beatles at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport.
Neymar was mobbed by fans and press, adding only they he was 'very happy' at the prospect of being a father.
Neymar celebrates scoring for Brazil against Scotland
Among those waiting were heartbroken, sobbing teenage girls. 'The girl is very lucky,' a disappointed Kristi Helleyn, 15, told Globoesporte. Giani, 14, added: 'Now it's difficult for other girls. It's even harder!'
The identity of the mother-to-be has been withheld to protect her from the frenzy, but it is understood she is not - or at least was not - in a serious relationship with Neymar.
Just two days before the announcement he responded to tabloid tales about his private live by tweeting that he was single. A fortnight ago he told a TV programme he didn't have a girlfriend, only an admirer.
It is believed the girl is from Santos and three months' pregnant. Those who know him well say Neymar's initial reaction was one of shock and suspicion when he heard the news last week, but he has since banished negative thoughts.
Playboy model Nicole Bahls, 24 - linked with the star earlier in the week - kept herself in the spotlight by saying: 'It is a blessing. I fully support him and I'm very happy for him. I'm sure he will be a wonderful father - he is a wonderful person and the best player in the world. Surely this baby will be an angel in Neymar's life.
'I'm not dating him, but I know him very well. I prefer to leave doubt in the air, but I'm particularly fond of Neymar, as he is of me.'
It shows just how big the obsession with Neymar has become.
After announcing on facebook that he had got a 17-year-old girl pregnant, he flew back from Santos's Copa Libertadores win in Colombia and landed to a scene more befitting The Beatles at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport.
Neymar was mobbed by fans and press, adding only they he was 'very happy' at the prospect of being a father.
Neymar celebrates scoring for Brazil against Scotland
Among those waiting were heartbroken, sobbing teenage girls. 'The girl is very lucky,' a disappointed Kristi Helleyn, 15, told Globoesporte. Giani, 14, added: 'Now it's difficult for other girls. It's even harder!'
The identity of the mother-to-be has been withheld to protect her from the frenzy, but it is understood she is not - or at least was not - in a serious relationship with Neymar.
Just two days before the announcement he responded to tabloid tales about his private live by tweeting that he was single. A fortnight ago he told a TV programme he didn't have a girlfriend, only an admirer.
It is believed the girl is from Santos and three months' pregnant. Those who know him well say Neymar's initial reaction was one of shock and suspicion when he heard the news last week, but he has since banished negative thoughts.
Playboy model Nicole Bahls, 24 - linked with the star earlier in the week - kept herself in the spotlight by saying: 'It is a blessing. I fully support him and I'm very happy for him. I'm sure he will be a wonderful father - he is a wonderful person and the best player in the world. Surely this baby will be an angel in Neymar's life.
'I'm not dating him, but I know him very well. I prefer to leave doubt in the air, but I'm particularly fond of Neymar, as he is of me.'
Model Nicole Bahls says Neymar is fond of her
Neymar is a journalist's dream: good looking, controversial and, let's not forget, supremely talented. He will be on the front pages and leading advertising campaigns when the Copa America comes around, and media will be flocking to hear what he says.
Chelsea will regret that their £25million wasn't enough to sign him last August because now the price and competition seems to be rising by the month. I'd be surprised if he doesn't end up at Stamford Bridge, but does impending parenthood change anything? Maybe, and maybe not for the worse.
Neymar announced himself to Britain and Europe when he scored twice and dazzled against Scotland and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in March. And what struck him was that amid Neymar-fever, he could still find anonymity in London. Compatriots with a bigger profile over here have confirmed that to him too.
No such luck in Santos. Against the best advice of those around him last August, he made it clear he did not want to leave his hometown and the friends he had there. This was a teenage boy talking, but times change.
I've been to Santos, walked around its fairly small centre and visited the modest Vila Belmiro stadium where once Pele and now Neymar wow the crowds.
The local-boy-done-good cannot escape the frenzy there and he was alarmed by the harassment that followed the sacking of Dorival Junior, the manager who brought Neymar through only to be disposed of when he wanted to ban the forward for swearing at him in public. It's an episode the No 11 regrets and he was booed by his own fans in the immediate aftermath.
A change of scenery is now less daunting, and the attention will only grow. Whether he would consider leaving before his child is due around November is a legitimate question, but a move this summer may be affected by football matters in any case.
Santos are a step away from the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, South America's most prestigious club competition, and club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro is rather prematurely already dreaming of lifting the trophy and playing Barcelona in the Club World Cup come December.
Neymar is a journalist's dream: good looking, controversial and, let's not forget, supremely talented. He will be on the front pages and leading advertising campaigns when the Copa America comes around, and media will be flocking to hear what he says.
Chelsea will regret that their £25million wasn't enough to sign him last August because now the price and competition seems to be rising by the month. I'd be surprised if he doesn't end up at Stamford Bridge, but does impending parenthood change anything? Maybe, and maybe not for the worse.
Neymar announced himself to Britain and Europe when he scored twice and dazzled against Scotland and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in March. And what struck him was that amid Neymar-fever, he could still find anonymity in London. Compatriots with a bigger profile over here have confirmed that to him too.
No such luck in Santos. Against the best advice of those around him last August, he made it clear he did not want to leave his hometown and the friends he had there. This was a teenage boy talking, but times change.
I've been to Santos, walked around its fairly small centre and visited the modest Vila Belmiro stadium where once Pele and now Neymar wow the crowds.
The local-boy-done-good cannot escape the frenzy there and he was alarmed by the harassment that followed the sacking of Dorival Junior, the manager who brought Neymar through only to be disposed of when he wanted to ban the forward for swearing at him in public. It's an episode the No 11 regrets and he was booed by his own fans in the immediate aftermath.
A change of scenery is now less daunting, and the attention will only grow. Whether he would consider leaving before his child is due around November is a legitimate question, but a move this summer may be affected by football matters in any case.
Santos are a step away from the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, South America's most prestigious club competition, and club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro is rather prematurely already dreaming of lifting the trophy and playing Barcelona in the Club World Cup come December.
That is the only thing that might postpone Paulo Henrique Ganso wanting to leave the club, too, which could prove an even greater benefit.
Neymar may hog the limelight, but Ganso is the player who many seasoned watchers of Brazil believe can return them to greatness. One journalist who watches Santos every week told me that the club can play well without Neymar, but not without the midfield maestro who has been called the Brazilian Zidane.
Ganso can play in the Kaka role, or a little deeper, and orchestrates play with a fantastic range of passing and the ability to see what is going on all around the pitch.
At 21 he has made it clear he wants to head for Europe, probably to Italy, and has both Milan clubs interested.
The concern for suitors, though, is the injury record of a player Santos want more than £30m for. It is just two months since Ganso, which means goose in Portuguese, returned from a serious knee injury that kept him out for seven months. The team who had run away with the Sao Paulo state title and Brazilian Cup in the first half of last year looked average in his absence and finished a disappointing eighth in the Brazilian Serie A.
Last weekend, as Santos played the first leg of this year's Sao Paulo state championship final against Corinthians, Ganso picked up a thigh injury that will keep him out for six weeks.
It not only dents the hopes of his club, but also puts his Copa America participation in serious doubt.
Mano Menezes, the coach who replaced Dunga after the World Cup last year, had hoped that next week he would be able to name what will more or less be his squad for the South American championship.
Brazil coach Mano Menezes embraces Neymar
Menezes is picking players to face Holland and Romania early next month - the latter being a farewell game for Ronaldo - and had indicated there will be few changes to the party who will travel to Argentina in July.
He will, however, give Ganso as long as possible to prove his fitness. 'We’re going to wait a little longer,' said Menezes. 'Maybe it won’t be so much (time he is out), let’s wait a bit to see how his recovery goes.
'Ganso is an organiser who reads the game for the team, he puts the pass through on goal, he sets the rhythm. This player is harder to find.'
High praise, especially for a player who has only one cap - earned in Menezes's first game in charge, against the United States in August, when Neymar again dominated the headlines for scoring on his debut.
And high praise because Brazil are arguably blessed with creative midfielders more than young natural goalscorers such as Neymar.
Leaving Kaka aside, Sao Paulo starlet Lucas Moura impressed as a sub against Scotland, replacing the tenacious Shakhtar Donetsk schemer Jadson, while Lazio's Hernanes has also been outstanding as a creative force in midfield at times this season.
But none of them is Ganso, and if he has the chance to fulfil his promise at the Copa America, he might just show Neymar who's the daddy.
Neymar may hog the limelight, but Ganso is the player who many seasoned watchers of Brazil believe can return them to greatness. One journalist who watches Santos every week told me that the club can play well without Neymar, but not without the midfield maestro who has been called the Brazilian Zidane.
Ganso can play in the Kaka role, or a little deeper, and orchestrates play with a fantastic range of passing and the ability to see what is going on all around the pitch.
At 21 he has made it clear he wants to head for Europe, probably to Italy, and has both Milan clubs interested.
The concern for suitors, though, is the injury record of a player Santos want more than £30m for. It is just two months since Ganso, which means goose in Portuguese, returned from a serious knee injury that kept him out for seven months. The team who had run away with the Sao Paulo state title and Brazilian Cup in the first half of last year looked average in his absence and finished a disappointing eighth in the Brazilian Serie A.
Last weekend, as Santos played the first leg of this year's Sao Paulo state championship final against Corinthians, Ganso picked up a thigh injury that will keep him out for six weeks.
It not only dents the hopes of his club, but also puts his Copa America participation in serious doubt.
Mano Menezes, the coach who replaced Dunga after the World Cup last year, had hoped that next week he would be able to name what will more or less be his squad for the South American championship.
Menezes is picking players to face Holland and Romania early next month - the latter being a farewell game for Ronaldo - and had indicated there will be few changes to the party who will travel to Argentina in July.
He will, however, give Ganso as long as possible to prove his fitness. 'We’re going to wait a little longer,' said Menezes. 'Maybe it won’t be so much (time he is out), let’s wait a bit to see how his recovery goes.
'Ganso is an organiser who reads the game for the team, he puts the pass through on goal, he sets the rhythm. This player is harder to find.'
High praise, especially for a player who has only one cap - earned in Menezes's first game in charge, against the United States in August, when Neymar again dominated the headlines for scoring on his debut.
And high praise because Brazil are arguably blessed with creative midfielders more than young natural goalscorers such as Neymar.
Leaving Kaka aside, Sao Paulo starlet Lucas Moura impressed as a sub against Scotland, replacing the tenacious Shakhtar Donetsk schemer Jadson, while Lazio's Hernanes has also been outstanding as a creative force in midfield at times this season.
But none of them is Ganso, and if he has the chance to fulfil his promise at the Copa America, he might just show Neymar who's the daddy.