Klopp’s Red Bull Challenge Pushes Neymar and Next‑Gen Stars to the Edge

By J.J. Pavlick | São Paulo, Brasil | June 5, 2026

Brazil, Spain, and Austria – As Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer, Klopp assembled a roster of stars—Neymar Jr., one of the most recognizable attackers of his generation; Endrick, Real Madrid’s teenage phenom; Richard Ríos, Colombia’s rising midfield engine; and Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s Hungarian captain and one of Europe’s elite box‑to‑box creators—and dropped them into a three‑country obstacle course built to test touch, nerve, and imagination. The group had 100 balls to survive all three challenges. They finished with six.

The Red Bull Ultimate Football Challenge, released Friday along with a full event film on YouTube, stretched from São Paulo to Bilbao to Salzburg, each stop designed to expose a different layer of the players’ technical DNA. Klopp’s thesis was simple: elite footballers aren’t just skilled — they’re still connected to the kid who fell in love with the game.

Challenge 1: Neymar Suspended 15 Meters Over São Paulo

The opening test at Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu was built for Neymar’s brand of chaos control.

For casual fans, Neymar needs little introduction. The Brazilian forward is a global icon whose career has stretched from Santos to Barcelona to PSG to Al Hilal, with over a decade as the face of the Brazilian national team. His game has always been built on improvisation, aerial control, and flair—the exact qualities this challenge was designed to expose.

He and freestyle legend Séan Garnier were hoisted onto a platform 15 meters above the pitch, tasked with catching, cushioning, and returning balls whipped at unpredictable angles before striking into a mini-goal suspended even higher—20 meters above ground.

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Neymar burned through 22 balls on his own.

“I thought it would be easier,” he said. “But after I was up there, I was afraid. The wind changes everything—the ball moves, the direction changes, and it becomes even more difficult to control.”

The squad moved on with 78 balls remaining.

Challenge 2: Endrick and Ríos vs. the Giant Treadmills of Bilbao

If Neymar’s challenge was about touch, Bilbao was about survival.

Endrick, at just 19, is already one of the most hyped young forwards in world football — a Real Madrid signing whose blend of power and fearlessness has drawn comparisons to Brazil’s great No. 9s. Richard Ríos, meanwhile, is Colombia’s breakout midfielder, a late bloomer who surged from Palmeiras to Benfica and into the national team on the back of his 2024 Copa América heroics.

The pair stepped onto two massive, custom‑built treadmills, shifting in speed and direction. They had to slalom cones, hit a rolling penalty at a moving target, and finish a blind cross over a 3‑meter wall—all while the ground literally moved beneath them.

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The moment of the day came from the youngest player on the roster.

Klopp couldn’t believe what he saw.

“The most impressive was definitely the pass from Endrick on the treadmill,” he said. “Richard controlled it with the first touch and scored. I didn’t think that was possible.”

The duo kept the run alive and sent Szoboszlai to Austria with nine balls left.

Challenge 3: Szoboszlai and Seiwald vs. the 94‑Target Wall in Salzburg

The final stage was a precision gauntlet in Salzburg, where Dominik Szoboszlai and RB Leipzig’s Nicolas Seiwald—both products of the Red Bull Akademie—faced a nine‑meter structure loaded with 94 illuminated targets.

Szoboszlai is Hungary’s national team captain and one of Liverpool’s most complete midfielders—a long‑range threat, a set‑piece specialist, and a relentless runner. Seiwald, his challenge partner, is another Akademie graduate who climbed from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig, known for his engine, precision passing, and tactical discipline.

Hit the lights, the patterns, and the penalties.

Szoboszlai, guided by Bastian Schweinsteiger, needed to be perfect. He nearly was.

“The penalties were the most difficult,” Szoboszlai said. “But we worked well together. It was a hard session, but in the end, I only needed three balls to finish it.”

He used exactly that—three—leaving the squad with six balls to spare.

A Challenge Built for Their Games — and Their Histories

Each stop was engineered around the athletes’ defining traits:

• Neymar Jr.—Brazilian superstar, global icon, master of aerial control and improvisation
• Endrick—Real Madrid’s teenage prodigy, explosive movement and fearless finishing
• Richard Ríos—Colombia’s rising midfield force, first-touch precision, and balance
• Dominik Szoboszlai — Liverpool’s Hungarian captain, elite passer and penalty technician
• Nicolas Seiwald — RB Leipzig midfielder, Red Bull Akademie product with tactical discipline
• Séan Garnier — freestyle world champion, specialist in trick control and street‑style creativity

And each challenge was guided by legends who shaped the modern game:

• Zé Roberto in São Paulo
• Thiago Alcântara in Bilbao
• Bastian Schweinsteiger in Salzburg

The result was part skills test, part spectacle, part reminder that even the world’s best still chase the same joy they found as kids.

The Final Tally

• 100 balls to start
• 22 used by Neymar
• 69 used in Bilbao
• 3 used in Salzburg
• 6 balls left

A razor‑thin margin—and exactly the kind of drama Klopp wanted.

Watch the Full Event

The complete Red Bull Ultimate Football Challenge film is available now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLDaSQ-4i0E

Klopp’s challenge wasn’t just a spectacle—it was a reminder that even the world’s biggest stars still chase the same spark that pulled them into the game as kids. Neymar, Endrick, Ríos, and Szoboszlai walked into a three‑country gauntlet with 100 balls and left with six, but they carried something bigger out of it: proof that joy and pressure can still live in the same moment.

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