Statements by Felipe, former center of the dragons and now at Nottingham Forest, to the program “Hora dos Craques” on Porto Canal, presented by Maniche and Miguel Marques Monteiro.
Loss of ownership at Atlético: “At the beginning it was a little complicated, I didn’t understand. I was coming off four very important years in my career, at Corinthians, at FC Porto and then I arrive at Atlético and play. You start to think about what you’re doing: ‘I need to improve something. ‘ But you need a stimulus to understand, but I didn’t get that answer. At the end of the year, I played a little more and thought about doing what I should do, training hard and taking advantage of the opportunity. If I can play five minutes, ten, 90, whatever whatever, I’m going to commit and give my best. There are the starters and the others, when they get an opportunity, they have to take advantage. I never doubted my qualities. I’ve seen some players with that thought and you could see that it was very bad.”
He was close to leaving football: “I had the opportunity to work with my father-in-law and leave football. If you start playing at 13 or 14 nowadays, it’s already late and I was reaching 18. I thought I needed to work and have a direction in my life . I didn’t think twice and yes, I went to work. I woke up at 3:40 am and we were going to deliver mushrooms to markets and restaurants. I arrived home at 1:30 pm. My father-in-law doesn’t trust anyone, but he felt that he already gave me some and I already thought in taking up the business. That’s when they gave me the opportunity to play for a football club and I dedicated myself to it. At the time, the dream was to reach a second or first division. One day I was watching a Brazilian football derby with friends and said ‘one day I’m going to play in that stadium’.”
The jump to Bragantino through the DVD: “A friend told me to make a DVD with my plays for him to give to the clubs. It was a player’s CV. I had no idea that was how it worked. The people at Bragantino really liked it and wanted me to introduce myself. I played in the first division of the São Paulo championship and in Serie B of the Brasileirão. And I was in the fourth… I couldn’t sleep for two days thinking about it. Many friends only found out when I arrived at Corinthians, after a year at Bragantino.”
