When Neymar received the news that he was one of the three candidates to win the 2015 Ballon d'Or award, he did a euphoric
samba dance of delight.

"It is wonderful to be included next to two such accomplished stars as Leo (Messi) and Ronaldo," Neymar beamed.

"I will be in very special company at the ceremony...I take this as a recognition of how hard i have worked to improve my game in the last
year or so."

According to sources close to him, Neymar, 23, entertains very few hopes that he will be announced as the winner at Monday's
high-profile ceremony in Zurich.

However, he is delighted just to be on the top three shortlist for the first time in his brief career.

His presence in the top three is entirely due to his exhilarating form for Barcelona instead of his patchy form for Brazil.

Neymar bowed out of the 2014 World Cup at the quarter-final stage with a back injury, then got himself sent off and suspended against
Colombia in the group stage at the 2015 Copa America.

"It has not been a good year for me playing for Brazil," he admitted recently.

"But it has been a wonderful year at Barca, really wonderful."

Neymar, playing as a false left-winger with freedom to roam, has linked up to devastating effect at Barca with fellow South Americans
Messi and Luis Suarez, forming the much feared and admired 'MSN' strike trio.

"The three of us are great friends off the field and this also helps on the field. We are always looking to find each other and help each
other, we try not to be selfish. We seem to have a very good understanding of each other's movements and intentions."

This understanding has been so effective that Barca won five out of the six trophies they competed for in 2015: the Champions League, La
Liga, the Spanish Cup, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Neymar finished joint third in the Liga scoring chart last season with Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid, behind Messi and Ronaldo.
In the Champions League, Neymar finished joint top with Messi and Ronaldo on 10 goals, thanks to hitting the final goal in Barca's 3-1
defeat of Juventus in the final.

Neymar also scored in the final of the Spanish Cup, a 3-1 defeat of Athletic Bilbao, played in Barca's own Camp Nou.

However, that was the night when Neymar infuriated the Bilbao defenders when - with the score at 3-1 - he tried to flick the ball
over them with an audacious back-heel called a 'Lambretta' in Spain.

The Basque defenders thought Neymar was disrespecting them, and promptly hacked him down. Interestingly, Barca coach Luis Enrique -
instead of backing up his player - said he understood the annoyance of the Basques and advised Neymar to give up on the party tricks.

Indeed, Neymar is not the most popular opponent among players and fans in Spain. He has frequently been accused of diving, and of
trying to belittle defenders with his clever tricks.

"Football is entertainment, the crowd want to enjoy themselves," he said recently.

"My first priority is to help my team win, but I also want to entertain the fans and let them see something different and
unexpected."