Rafaella Santos: Who is PSG superstar Neymar's sister?
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Neymar tends to go missing when his sister Rafaella Santos' birthday comes around.
The Brazilian becomes sidelined around the time Rafaella celebrates her birthday in what has become somewhat of a mystery to fans.
Rafaella's birth date is 11 March, and around that time, Neymar has often been sidelined through suspension or injury since the 2014-15 campaign.
The Brazilian evidently loves his sister, as he has a tattoo of his sibling on his arm.
But who is Rafaella Santos?
Rafaella is the younger sister of the PSG forward, who was born on 11 March 1996.
She has managed to thrust herself into the public eye despite her brother's accomplishments in football as she is a popular style icon.
Rafaella also has a successful modeling career and boasts 5.7 million followers on her Instagram account.
On her social media account, Rafaella posts flawless pictures of her modeling career alongside her personal life.
However, the Brazilian model is also a generous woman as she has dedicated much time to Neymar's Instituto charity.
The charity was created by the PSG attacker in 2014 and is aimed at helping disadvantaged children living in Praia Grande, Sao Paulo, where the two siblings were raised.
Rafaella changed her name to Beckran when she was legally old enough, having previously used the surname Da Silva Santos.
The decision to change her name is believed to stem from her childhood idolisation of Manchester United legend David Beckham.
The Brazilian-style icon is known in football not only for her relation to Neymar but also her past relationship with former Inter Milan striker Gabriel Barbosa.
Rafaella's birthday curse on PSG forward Neymar
Rafaella's birthday 'curse' began back in 2015 when the Brazilian forward was playing for Barcelona.
He picked up a suspension for too many yellow cards which allowed him to attend his sister's birthday.
The same occurred in 2016 when Neymar was suspended yet again and celebrated Rafaella's birthday at a Disney-themed party.
It was a muscular injury which sidelined the PSG striker in 2017.
He was ruled out of a clash with Deportivo la Coruna which took place two days before Rafaella's birthday.
Neymar arrived at the Parc des Princes in the summer of 2017 in a world-record £199.8 million move.
However, the birthday curse followed him to Paris after he suffered a fractured metatarsal in February 2018 which kept him out for the rest of the season.
The curse was broken in 2020 when he was on the scoresheet on 11 March in a 2-0 Champions League last 16 second-leg win over Borussia Dortmund.
A muscular issue took him out of action once again and he likely celebrated Rafaella's birthday in 2021 but he was back performing this year.
It came in unceremonious circumstances as the Brazilian was booed by PSG fans in a 3-0 win over Bordeaux after the Parisians' elimination from the Champions League.