" Neymar Jr. "
This is a 24" x 30" Acrylic on Canvas painting ofNeymar da Silva Santos Júnior - Brazilian born professional footballer playing with the Spanish FC Barcelona club by Joe Versikaitis
With my family soccer has always been apart of our livelihoods. For 14 years I coached and co-coached both our kids through soccer. The hard work and dedication that these kids put into this beautiful sport earned them both scholarships to the Medicine Hat college and University of Lethbridge
Myself growing up in Venezuela, soccer was our sport. My favourite player was Pele. Even though he was a Brazilian he was very popular in our family. We own a bar and restaurant but living in a poor country like Venezuela we didn't have organized soccer associations in our area. When we played, in the back yard, in the school ground, or what ever ground we could find, my position was always the goalie. I don't think I was all that good but I did stop balls from going in. Truthfully, I believe I was the goalie because I was too fat to run....lol
Like most people throughout the world, my wife and I spent most of this spring watching soccer's finest showcase, Brazil's 2014 World Cup competition. Everybody in our family has their own favourite team and cheered our hearts away. My team was Spain, and no they didn't do me justice! Regardless of Spain's outcome I also cheered on this tournaments home team, Brazil.
This team was made up of younger and faster players. They were burning up the field against any opponent that dared to step in front of them. They had players like Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, known as Hulk. This guy was ripped like the Hulk. the young kid, Oscar dos Santos, Thiago Emiliano da Silva, David Luiz Moreira Marinho who had a memorable fist shaking after he had scored, and my favourite kid to watch was Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior - known as Neymwr Jr.
Neymar Jr. plays with the Spanish FC Barcelona club. His playing style has earned him critical acclaim, with fans, media and former players drawing comparison to former Brazil forward Pele who has called Neymar "an excellent player", while Ronaldinho has stated "he will be the best in the world".
At the 2014 FIFA World Cup Neymar scored four goals before he fractured a vertebra in his spine in the quarter-finals and missed the rest of the tournament. He received the Bronze Boot as the tournament's third top goalscorer, and was named in the World Cup All Star XI.'With 42 goals in 59 matches for Brazil, Neymar is the 5th highest goal scorer for his national team
As a sports artist my inspiration for this painting came while watching Neymar score almost every game that he played in during the 2014 World Cup. This kid with the ball is fast, tricky, clever and moved very precise. One on one Neymar is very dangerous. He is capable of shining in any attacking position. What really amazed me was his way to dance around a packed defence line and score..Brilliant!
While watching the crowd reacted to Neymar's moves, I thought wouldn't it something if I created an art piece of Neymar in which all those fans could enjoy.
I then asked my wife, " Wouldn't it be cool to be apart of the World Cup someday..or ...go to Barcelona and show case my work?"
Joe Versikaitis
All works are under the Canadian Copyrights Law. Any reproduction in part or whole without the written consent is strictly prohibited
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