Jaedyn Shaw out to emulate Neymar at Paris Olympics as USWNT star reveals childhood nickname inspired by Brazil icon

The 19-year-old San Diego Wave forward is hoping to emulate her idol Neymar by winning the gold medal at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. Neymar, who helped Brazil win their first-ever gold medal in Olympic football in 2016, has been an inspiration for Shaw since her childhood as she revealed that her nickname in her younger days, 'Jaemar' - an amalgamation of Jaedyn and Neymar - was inspired by the Selecao star.

Shaw has been named in Emma Hayes' 18-member squad that will travel to Paris later this month to compete at the Olympics. The United States women's national team last grabbed the gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and earned a third-place finish in the last edition in Japan.

In an interview with FIFA.com, Shaw expressed her admiration for the Al-Hilal star as she said: "Yeah, as a kid that was also my nickname [Jaemar] for a while! I actually still have a couple of friends who call me that. My eyes always were just always drawn to him.

"I loved how different he was from everyone else on the field. He made the game fun and I wanted to try all his tricks at home. The difference was he was doing it against world-class defenders, but I was doing it against... Well, literally nobody in my backyard!"

The teenager will be next seen in action on Tuesday as the USWNT play their final friendly game against Costa Rica before jetting off to the French capital.