Neymar will break Pele's Brazil goalscoring record, says former striker Romario

Pele scored 77 in yellow; Neymar, 22, is already on 40

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Brazil legend Romario says Barcelona striker Neymar will beat Pele's goalscoring record for the Selecao.

Pele, considered by some the greatest player ever, scored 77 international goals in 92 matches for Brazil, in front of Ronaldo (62), Romario, who scored 55 goals, and Zico on 48.

At just 22, Neymar already has 40 goals for Brazil from his 58 matches - he scored four in an friendly against Japan earlier this month.

"Even though he is still young, Neymar is well aware of what he means for the world of football, and for the Brazilian game in particular," Romario told Lancenet.

"He is the one player the Brazilian people believe in and he has everything to make history.

"There have been a lot of players who scored a lot, but weren't able to do so for Brazil. This was not the World Cup for him, but there's still time.

"He's only 22 and already near Brazil's three all-time top goal scorers. If he manages to keep this up, he will surpass Pele."

Neymar scored the early opener for Barcelona against Real Madrid in El Clasico on Saturday, his 11th goal in 11 matches for Luis Enrique this season, but ended up on the losing side as Los Blancos rallied to come back and win 3-1.