Neymar was celebrating another milestone with Brazil on Tuesday after becoming one of the few players to score four times in a match for the Selecao and moving into fifth place in the all-time scoring list ahead of Bebeto.
Neymar scored all four goals in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Japan in a friendly in Singapore, taking his tally to 40 goals in 58 matches with the national team.
“It’s an incredible emotion, an immense happiness to be fulfilling a dream like this,” Neymar told Brazilian media. “Not even in my greatest dreams could I imagine something like this while wearing the jersey of the national team. I’m really happy that this has happened.”
Only Zico (48 goals), Romario (55), Ronaldo (62) and Pele (77) have scored more than the 22-year-old Barcelona striker in official matches. Bebeto had 39 goals with Brazil.
“I get goose bumps just to hear something like that,” he said after being told about his achievements.
Neymar joined seven other players who have scored four times for Brazil in a match, including Zico and Romario. He is the youngest to do it, though, and is believed to be the only one that didn’t need penalty kicks to reach the mark.
Romario was the last to score four times for Brazil, in a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela in 2000.
