Neymar Jr.

Kaka is two goals away from becoming Brazil’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup qualifiers, but his toughest obstacle will not be Venezuela.

In order to surpass Zico and Romario, both with 11 goals, the Orlando City player will have to persuade Brazil coach Dunga into letting him play.

The Brazilian manager called up Kaka to replace Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, who got injured before he could make his debut in World Cup qualifiers. The other main absence in Brazil’s squad is the team’s star, Neymar.

In 2013, Barcelona decided to buy a skinny Brazilian teenager named Neymar Jr. from Santos FC. This was a very controversial move, as Barcelona paid quite a princely sum for this skinny teenager named Neymar who had never played in Europe but was absolutely ripping up the Brazilian league. And so, there was a lot of speculation whether the Neymar transfer fee was too high. He's since blossomed into one of the best players in the world. Was his fee too high? You be the judge. 

For Pete's sake, Neymar, do your taxes.

The Brazilian striker has had assets totalling $47.75 million frozen by a Brazilian court due to tax evasion charges. 

Neymar makes about $14 million in salary and $17 million in endorsements. That is enough money for someone to live on even if he pays his taxes.

It is incredibly hard for an individual player to have an affect on a soccer match. The game is comprised of 22 players that at any one time could be making more of an impact than any one player. There could be a defensive battle on the left side of the field that renders the right winger a spectator. The left-back in a defense could be such a defensive liability that the opposing attack choses to go nowhere else but through him, leaving the corresponding right back to do little more than mark space in solitude.

The USMNT's prospects for winning the Confederations Cup playoff next month against Mexico are not looking very good, if the team's form against Brazil Tuesday is any indication. Brazil annihilated the USMNT 4-1 behind two goals from Neymar. This is a result that demands a bit of wild speculation, which we are only too happy to deliver, in the form of positive and negative takeaways from the game.

There were quite a few negatives. Here are three.

Does Jurgen Klinsmann have any idea what he's doing?

Good God almighty, the unthinkable has happened in Ireland. Limerick FC have pulled off perhaps the greatest transfer coup in the history of soccer, signing electric Brazilian forward Neymar away from heavyweight Barcelona. 

How could this have happened? We haven't been able to pin down any details on the transfer, but it was reported earlier this week that Manchester United might bif 240 million pounds for Neymar, so that's the range we're talking here. 

Ronaldinho brought unpredictability to back to the beautiful game. Because he did so, he singlehandedly defined an era for soccer fans. If you started watching soccer between the years of 2004 to 2006, Ronaldinho was IT. He made the English seem boring, the Germans predictable, the Italians rigid. HE MADE THIS COMMERCIAL. 

And today all that is gone. 

When I imagine what it must be like to play with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar, images of sandy beaches and brightly colored drinks with their very own umbrellas float into my head, but, you know, in a footballing sense. 

I think that their talents would make my job infinitely easier, allowing me to merely spray passes forward, because they are more likely than not to land at the feet of a world-class player, and have success. And, looking at Ivan Rakitic play, it is tempting to believe that this is the case. 

We've had a few Messi-free weeks since the end of the Copa America, and it's been awful. He and his Brazilian wing-counterpart Neymar skipped Barcelona's USA tour because of the Copa, so we haven't seen the Argentine wonder in action in more than a month.

Luckily, that's coming to an end. Messi and Neymar, as well as countrymen Javier Mascherano (Argentina) and Dani Alves (Brazil) have come back to Barcelona training, serving as a welcome reminder that the new season is almost upon us. 

It takes more than talent to be a leader. Talent doesn’t make you responsible, diligent, or reliable. Talent can’t make you say what needs to be said in order to get something done. Talent is incredibly important, but it is only part of what matters when it comes to be a leader, and this is just as true in soccer as it is in any other vocation in the world.