Fancy footwork is key in soccer.
Just like handles in basketball, good footwork allows soccer players to create plays for themselves and their teammates.
Neymar, the forward for FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team, has been widely praised for his dribbling skills, tricks and playmaking ability. He is well known for his creativity, passing, finishing, technique and has been described as both “electric” and “explosive.”
In June 2015, Neymar started putting his footwork on display in a different way with the launch of the “NEYMAR JR. CRAZY SKILLS” project in partnership with Panasonic.
The purpose of the project was to showcase Panasonic technology while also supporting children worldwide who “want to be as good as football as Neymar Jr.”
Full-CG replicated shots of Neymar’s skills were created using Panasonic’s WebGL technology, and a 360-degree observation cam gave viewers a look a real-action footage in slow motion from every angle, providing them a platform to learn these skills and make them their own.
“I’m honored to be a role model for people around the world,” Neymar said. “It may be a small thing, but to me, it brings me great joy to know that I can make many children happy with my dribbles. It also makes me happy to know they are trying to be like me.”
Fans could then take to Twitter to post videos of them doing the skills which Neymar viewed, acting as the official judge to decide which won the “NEYMAR JR.’S CRAZY SKILLS AWARD.”
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With the project concluding at the end of December, Panasonic released a “NEYMAR JR. and WORLD’S CRAZY SKILLS” movie that featured the best of the videos that were submitted and also highlighted the video, zoom and photography capabilities of Panasonic.
“My message to everyone is thank you for your love and cooperation,” Neymar said. “I’m very happy that m skills and dribbles can be of reference to you. My goal, as I continue doing dibbles is to come up with a lot of new tricks that you can use as examples but to also continue learning from you.”