Born Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, the world knows him only as Neymar - one of the premier forwards in all of football. As of late, Neymar's star has been on the rise and his career continues to look bright. At the tender age of 23, many football experts already consider him one of the best players in the world, second only to his FC Barcelona teammate, Lionel Messi. With this type of reputation and talent, it would seem like a ton of pressure for someone so young, but Neymar has remained calm and collected all the time and his performance has remained high in everything he does.

The Breakthrough

While most football fans knew of Neymar well before the Summer Olympics in 2012, it was on this stage that he truly became an international icon. Making it all the way to the final match, Neymar's performance was remarkable, scoring several goals and notching up assists to his stats record. It was this display of raw talent that prompted his eventual transfer the next year to FC Barcelona, one of the most storied clubs in football history, for an astounding transfer fee of 87.2 million euros.

With a place on the FC Barcelona squad and a chance to make his debut on the national Brazilian team at the 2014 World Cup, Neymar was poised to be lifted into the echelon of the greatest current players of the game if he played well enough. That he did, and if not for an injury against Columbia in the quarterfinals, Brazil may have had what it took to prevail against Germany in the next round. Scoring two goals in the first match against Croatia, media attention turned to the young player and many highlight reels from the tournament focused on his performance in each match. Netting three goals in two games against Cameroon and Chile was enough to garner the Bronze Boot, an award given to the player with the third-most goals in the World Cup. Although Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament, Neymar was nominated on the shortlist.

FC Barcelona

When he switched to FC Barcelona in 2013, most football fans looked at the stacked squad and wondered when, not if, the club would start racking up titles. While many believed it would be instant, Barcelona faltered with a chance at the 2014 Champions League, coming up just short against Atletico Madrid. With Neymar, Messi, and Luis Suarez as the offensive playmakers, it looks like 2015 may be the year that Neymar is involved in a major title win.

Currently, Neymar and company have been on an incredible streak, defeating quality opponents seemingly with ease. After making quick work of Manchester City and Paris, the club dispatched Bayern Munich showing no signs of weakness. Neymar has been instrumental throughout the 2015 campaign, with a highlight coming in the second match where he scored both of the goals in a 2-0 victory. In football, anything can happen, but it would appear as if FC Barcelona with Neymar is an unstoppable force. Should the club win the Champions League, it will certainly be a box that Neymar can check on his list of amazing football accomplishments.

Branching Out

You might think a star like Neymar is focused solely on football, but the truth is that the exceptional player has another game that he has started to study - poker. As a longtime fan of the game, Neymar's experience with poker has largely been limited to games with friends and fellow footballers, but all of that is likely to change in the near future. Recently signed as a brand ambassador for legendary online and live poker operator PokerStars, Neymar is planning on attending a growing number of poker events this year and expanding his poker skills along the way.

Neymar is joining some elite names on the PokerStars team, including fellow football pro Ronaldo as well as field hockey legend Fatima Moreira de Melo and tennis superstar Rafa Nadal. The signing comes at a time when Neymar's popularity has never been higher - his Twitter feed has an impressive 18 million followers and more than 50 million fans on Facebook watch his every post. The footballer can be found playing online with the screen name of "neymar-jr" and will make his official live poker debut at the Barcelona stop of the European poker tour later this year. While it's yet to be seen how Neymar will stack up against professional players in a real poker tournament, if his competitive streak on the football field is any indication, we're sure he'll do just fine.

Groovy Tunes

To add to his ever-expanding profile, Neymar is also involved with music, supporting the Brazilian pop style called Musica sertaneja and spreading it around the world. In addition, the star has popped up with cameo roles in several music videos and even helped Gusttavo Lima belt out a few of the singer's tunes at a live concert. However, his most popular musical contribution may be a viral video that made its way around the Internet shortly after being posted. In the video Neymar dances in front of his teammates to the song "Ai se eu te pego!" by Michel Telo. The video helped to popularize the song and make it an international hit.

At the moment, Neymar is riding a wave that very few athletes, let alone football players, experience. With his talent on the pitch, engaging personality, and legion of fans, it would appear that the young star has laid the groundwork for a career that will span many years. As it evolves, it will be interesting to see in what directions Neymar's career will go - possibly a hit single, possibly a World Cup title, or maybe even a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker.