Sempre

[One]

.:Chapter One - Ai Se Eu Te Pego:.

Neymar's POV

"Ayeeee Dani turn it up louder! Louder! Just a little bit more! Perfect! Leave it, leave it! Come dance!" I screamed across the changing room to Daniel Alves - the right back of the Brazilian National Team. We were doing our pre-match routine, dancing to Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Telo. That man is a musical genius. It brought us luck, and luckily we'd win the match against Croatia. The country was counting on us, and there's no way I'd let them down. Not for anything. Not for anyone.

"Esta bem! Esta bem! I'm coming! Calm yourself! We still have..." He checked his watch, but then realised he wasn't actually wearing one and looked up in embarrassment, then quickly looked around for a clock.

"An hour and six minutes." Oscar answered for him, not even looking up from his phone. He seemed to be the least worried out of all of us, but who knows what's under that cool, hard exterior.

"Well whatever. Come on, the chorus is coming up." I huffed. If we lost today, I would be killing him, along with the rest of the country.

Nossa, nossa

We patted our chests and stepped to the sides. We probably looked idiotic but did we care?

No.

Well I didn't anyway.

Assim voce me mata

Still patting...

Ai se eu te pego

We pointed forwards, one arm at a time, and then transformed our hands into fists, thrusting forwards. We quite liked this bit.

Ai, ai se eu te pego

We repeated the slightly sexual part again, making sure to be thrusting with quite a force. Where's the fun in a weak thrust?

"Okay men! Come over; I want to speak to you before the game." Our coach yelled over the loud music. I respected Coach Scolari, so I did as I was told (although begrudgingly).

"Most of you have been playing football for a good number of years now. I want you to take a moment, take a quiet moment to yourself now, and think about all the people who have helped you in your football journey through the years. Think of all those people who have influenced you... your parents, siblings, and family; your different coaches, your teachers, your friends, neighbours, and relatives; the people in the community, the fans, and the supporters. Take this time to remember all of them."

I thought about my childhood - how we all played football on the dirty streets with a ragged ball and wonky, uneven lines on the ground to mark our goal. It was Rafaella, my two best friends and I, and we'd play two on two - me and Rafa versus Antonio and Marco. I did what every other boy of my age did and I have a lot of wonderful memories. I had a humble childhood but everything that my friends and I did was fun. Playing with a ball in the street, on the beach, flying kites, riding bikes, tag, hide-and-seek. It was a very good time. One that I will never be quick to forget.

"Remember the coach who taught you how to score a perfect goal for the first time. Remember the others who played with and against you to make you who you are today. Remember the fans and supporters who raised money to fund your equipment through the years. Remember the adult who played football with you after you learned to walk. Remember the family member who encouraged you to go on when you wanted to quit. Remember your parents who bought your boots, your uniform, and dropped everything to take you to practices and attend your games. Take this time to remember all of them."

And I did.

I remembered all of them. I thought about every person who had helped me to become who I am today. This game was for them. Every step, every pass, and every goal was for them.

"Now, I want you to pick one person, one special person who in your mind sticks out above the rest. Someone who has helped you more than the others. That person who is most responsible for you being here in this locker room today. You are going to dedicate your performance tonight to them. This is your day to honour them, to repay them for all that they sacrificed for you. Keep that person in your thoughts as you go all out on each and every play, so that when the final whistle blows, you will be satisfied that you honoured them with a total sacrifice of yourself... from your mind and from your body. Let's go team. Let's play our best."

We all hollered in agreement. We were going to win this: the match and the World Cup. I was going to dedicate this match to my family: Mai, Pai and Rafa. Whenever I could, I went with my father to training and matches. He was the one that taught me to play and gave me advice about football from when I was little.

"Okay now Neymar, Daniel, you can continue... whatever you were doing..." Scolari said wearily.

I just laughed in reply whilst Dani grinned back.

"If you insist Coach! Would you like to-" Dani was cut off.

"No." Coach said flatly and walked out of the changing rooms, not giving us another look.

*One hour later.*

To say I was scared, was an understatement. To say the whole team was worried, was the understatement of the century. We were all freaking out - especially cool, calm and collected Oscar.

"What if we lose?! What if the whole country and the rest of the world hates us?! We'll be forced to live in shame! I don't want to live in shame!" he panicked a couple minutes earlier. This was a rare sight, so I did what any best friend (and generally really awesome guy) would do: I called his wife, Ludy, and let her soothing voice calm him down.

Five minutes later he was raring to go, "Come on Neymar. Don't be scared! You're such a priss, you are. It's just a match! You have nothing to be worried about, man. It's not a death sentence."

It might as well be, I thought to myself glumly, but then I realised something. Today my dream is coming true, I'm playing the matches that I've always wanted to be playing. It's an honour to be where I am. But I don't want to be the best player, I don't want to be the top scorer. All I want is to win the World Cup title. It's what I've always dreamed about. It doesn't matter how it happens, I just want to win the title. All I want to do is play football and help my teammates and my team, not only by scoring goals, but also by doing everything possible to help Brazil win.

I will win.

We will win.

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Hi hi hi hi! My first fanfiction! This is so exciting! And obviously it had to be Neymar. I mean, who else could it be? I'm hoping to stick with this story until the end because I tend to get bored easily, and that's not nice. I am a nice person okay. Okay? Okay.

Too many okays up there ^

Stay lovely, my lovelies

-Plaidskinnyjeans (but you already knew that).

P.S: I'll be updating every Friday unless I state otherwise :)

P.P.S: The song of the chapter is Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Telo.