Santos reunites Neymar with fan who started the dance and beat cancer | OneFootball

Santos hosted a special reunion at the CT Rei Pelé in recent days. The young fan Matheus Souto, who beat cancer and created one of the most iconic dances performed on the field by Neymar in 2012, reunited with the star after 13 years.

As a child, Matheus visited Santos' training center and met the star in 2012. At one point, he asked the player to do his dance when he scored a goal. At the time, wearing the number 11 jersey, Neymar fulfilled the boy's request after scoring against Juan Aurich from Peru in the group stage of the 2012 Libertadores.

“In 2011, I was diagnosed with leukemia, which is a type of cancer. In 2012, after a game against Ponte Preta, Edu Dracena scored two goals and was going to raffle off his captain's armband on Facebook. My mother shared my story and my love for Santos. The team saw it and invited me to come here to the training center,” the young man told Santos TV.

“When I met Neymar, I was completely anxious, nervous, but gradually I started to relax with him, he gave me confidence, and I asked him for the famous dance. In the next game, in the Libertadores, he scored the goal and did the dance,” he added.

The reunion of Matheus with Neymar was shared by Santos on the club's social media. The star was extremely welcoming and expressed his happiness at seeing the young man after so many years, thanking him for all the affection.

“It's great to see you again after all these years,” Neymar celebrated. “This was the creator of one of the dances [laughs]. It's good to see you, glad you're doing well,” the star continued.

“I wanted to thank you for everything, because both you and Santos were very important to me. You gave me motivation, made me keep persisting through my entire battle during my treatment. I've continued following both you and Santos my whole life, and it's gratifying to have you back. So happy,” said Matheus.

Matheus received autographed jerseys from Neymar. The two also recreated the dance that the fan had created together at the CT Rei Pelé.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.