Pakistan's Highlanders FC to showcase their skills against world's best

National champions have touched down in Brazil for Neymar Jr’s Five

PRAIA GRANDE: Pakistan's Highlanders FC are one of 53 national champions from across the world who will soon battle amongst themselves in the World Final of Neymar Jr’s Five football tournament at the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in Brazil.

More than 100,000 players took part in the second year of the tournament that has become a truly global phenomenon.

For the winners, the icing on the cake will be the chance to play against a team led by Neymar Jr in the town where he grew up.

Neymar Jr’s Five is authentic football with a twist. There are no goalkeepers and whenever a team scores, the opposition loses a player, which makes the 10-minute matches fast, technical, tactical  and great fun to play.

The stage is now set for the World Final, which began on Friday, with a group stage featuring the 53 national champions.

The best 32 will make it through to the knock-out stages on Saturday July 8, with a series of matches whittling the teams down to two teams, who battle it out in the final match.

The 100,000-plus players who have featured in the second edition of the competition is a sharp increase from the 65,000 who played in the first year.

For Neymar Jr, the highlight of the competition has been seeing so many people from so many different backgrounds playing the game around the world on every imaginable surface, in all weathers, and with a unique sense of fun.

“Nobody expected so many players from so many different countries and I’m delighted to see people playing the game the way it should be played — together, in friendship, and with a great sense of fun,” said Neymar Jr, who is preparing for another crucial season with Barcelona and Brazil — the finals of the 2018 World Cup now less than a year away. “This is football the way I grew up playing it and I hope the numbers just get bigger and bigger.”