Neymar was once called the "next Pele" by some reporters because of his Brazilian background and both played for Santos F.C. in Vila Belmiro.
Brazilian soccer star Neymar had a frightening encounter at his French mansion over the weekend as a man with a backpack full of Bibles breached security and invaded his residence earlier Sunday, ESPN reported.
The alleged intruder broke into the 29-year-old forward’s home and told police he was "spreading the word of God,” Soccer Laduma reported. Neymar, who had a game later that afternoon for his club team, Paris Saint Germain, was home at the time of the incident, French newspaper L’Equipe reported.
The 26-year-old perp managed to make his way into the garden of Neymar's property outside of Paris in the town of La Celle-Saint-Cloud by climbing over the wall, ESPN reported. Neymar’s security detail stopped the man just feet away from the main door and was chased off the property, ESPN added.
The unnamed alleged intruder was arrested and transported to a psychiatric hospital, sources have confirmed to ESPN; who also reported that according to their sources, the alleged intruder didn't intend to steal anything but just wanted to speak about religion with the player.
Neymar, who just signed a contract extension with his club, later scored that same day in PSG’s Ligue 1 match in their 4-0 rout against Reims. Neymar has not commented on the incident on his home.
Neymar arrived at PSG in the summer of 2017 from Barcelona for a record transfer fee of $220 million with the French club, making him one of the wealthiest athletes in history. He ranks No. 6 on Forbes’ 2021 list of the world’s wealthiest athletes, just behind UFC fighter Conor McGregor, fellow soccer stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and NBA star LeBron James.
Neymar, who is deeply religious himself, has a cross tattooed on the back of his neck and appeared as a Christian monk in Netflix’s popular Spanish series, “Money Heist.”
The Brazilian superstar is the latest PSG player to have his property broken into. In March, his teammate and Argentine playmaker Angel Di Maria's home was robbed while his wife and two daughters were inside as he was playing in a match, ESPN said. The father and sister of Brazilian defender and PSG captain Marquinhos were also the victims of a burglary the same night Di Maria’s house was robbed, ESPN added.
PSG are paying for security of their players' houses and property, ESPN said.
