Liverpool signed Brazilian attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino during the Copa América earlier this year, successfully beating off the competition from other interested parties.
Firmino had the company of Liverpool number 10 Philippe Coutinho during the tournament held in Chile, and club director Ian Ayre himself travelled to Santiago to secure the signing of the player from German side Hoffenheim. Firmino has given a long interview to The Telegraph, where he talks about his parents, youth days at CRB, and the move to Figueirense, via a failed trial at São Paulo. He said: “It was really difficult to leave my family to go south and my mother cried every day. From the moment I left CRB I was away from my family for a year. For a 16-year-old, that’s quite difficult. But that is life. You have to chase your dreams and thankfully I am here today. I went to the youth team at Figueirense first. Then I played for a year and a half in Serie B [the Brazilian championship second tier]. We got promoted and then I went to Germany."
He added: “When I was a kid, sometimes mum and dad didn’t really want me to play football. They wanted me to study. Occasionally they would even lock me in at home and I would have to jump the wall at the back to play football!"
Firmino says he barely saw the ball in two weeks at his first trial at São Paulo, but when given another chance at Figueirense, he took it. He said: “On the first day I scored two overhead kicks. That floored everyone! So by day two, I knew I was in."
Liverpool signed Brazilian attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino during the Copa América earlier this year, successfully beating off the competition from other interested parties.
Firmino had the company of Liverpool number 10 Philippe Coutinho during the tournament held in Chile, and club director Ian Ayre himself travelled to Santiago to secure the signing of the player from German side Hoffenheim. Firmino has given a long interview to The Telegraph, where he talks about his parents, youth days at CRB, and the move to Figueirense, via a failed trial at São Paulo. He said: “It was really difficult to leave my family to go south and my mother cried every day. From the moment I left CRB I was away from my family for a year. For a 16-year-old, that’s quite difficult. But that is life. You have to chase your dreams and thankfully I am here today. I went to the youth team at Figueirense first. Then I played for a year and a half in Serie B [the Brazilian championship second tier]. We got promoted and then I went to Germany."
He added: “When I was a kid, sometimes mum and dad didn’t really want me to play football. They wanted me to study. Occasionally they would even lock me in at home and I would have to jump the wall at the back to play football!"
Firmino says he barely saw the ball in two weeks at his first trial at São Paulo, but when given another chance at Figueirense, he took it. He said: “On the first day I scored two overhead kicks. That floored everyone! So by day two, I knew I was in."
