Peter Banke is Neymar’s biographer.
Credit: Peter Banke
Peter Banke, 36, a journalist from Danish TV station TV2, has been working in Rio de Janeiro for the last six years. Banke’s now a die-hard fan of the Brazilian national team, so much so that he has now penned on this World Cup’s most talked-about player, Neymar da Silva Santos Junior. “Neymar, o sonho brasileiro” (“Neymar, the Brazilian Dream”) talks about the rise of the Brazilian forward from club Santos to footballing powerhouse Barcelona.
But Banke, who lives in Copacabana, is all too aware that Brazil’s problems provide a much larger talking point. “When you live here in Brazil, you realize that it’s normal to walk down the street and even work,” he says. “But the news that travels to other countries is frightening. That’s a pity because Brazil is a wonderful place to know,” he laments.
Banke believes it will be a Brazil vs. Argentina final, with the hosts to triumph: “Unlike in 1950, Brazil will win the tournament they’re hosting. They have a spectacular team, the best defense of the world and an attack that simply dispenses comments.”
