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Having being born in Tijuca, in 1980, I was one of the luckiest many who grew up playing soccer in the streets of Rio de Janeiro as a (C. de R. do) Flamengo fan, dreaming of becoming a professional soccer player and travel… of playing for the multitudes and being victorious… of scoring a goal at the Maracana stadium and then sprinting towards the terrace, ducking and ditching and dodging everything and everyone standing in my way – even my own teammates – to expeditiously go celebrate it with the exploding, euphoric mass of fanatic fans… of maybe playing for the Brazilian national team, or even being selected to represent the country in a world cup… Those were my silly childhood dreams… Likewise, TV and radio broadcasting just made us all even more fascinated and infatuated with the idea – the dialect, the rhythm, the characterization and dramatization, the style, the insight… Yet, later on, at some particular point, indeed, I was forced to face reality and come to terms with my childhood dreams, mainly, for notwithstanding the fact that the accomplishment of such silly aspirations was not up to me… And through this settlement I’ve come closer to grasping the true importance of the game, as for me of course, as well as for its art form, which are maybe parallel or even beyond professional level: the former being a vehicle of/for peace and the later, playing with a sense of humor – elegantly and simple… Therefore, my whole coaching philosophy has been primarily based on keeping this childhood experience of daring to dream alive as we are transformed in what we are truly meant to be… as I am my father’s and my mother’s son and most of all a citizen of the world… |
