This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-04-13 11:01:47+00:00.
Summary:
“The first temptations started. It’s not easy to resist easy money. I’ve handled guns, but, thank God, I’ve never smoked weed or done drugs. I had a good upbringing, too. My aunt was strict; she scared me. (Laughs.) And I played on the police football team. I didn’t want to end up in jail. Some of my friends are dead; others are in prison.”
“I can’t blame them. When you have nothing, the temptation to go down that path is strong. Our house was right next to the drug dealers’ headquarters, so I saw everything. I saw them hiding the guns and the drugs. I didn’t say anything, of course. But it was complicated. I was right in the middle of that mess. One night, I was coming home from [playing] football with a friend. We saw two guys running toward us with a gun.”
“I had Neymar’s mohawk and a Santos jersey. They must have mistaken me for a drug dealer. In the favelas, a lot of people wear football jerseys, it’s like a uniform. They thought we were selling drugs at their spot. One of them, a little high, I think, pointed the gun at my temple. I remember he was drunk and told me he’d kill me if we kept going. It was super tense. We took off, scared of getting shot in the back.”
“After the 2022 World Cup, I fell into a depression. Every possible disaster came crashing down on me: elimination, betrayal by my agent (Renato Velasco, whom he accuses of defrauding him), family problems, physical setbacks… For a year and a half, I took a beating every single day.”
“It was the first time I had to deal with so many problems, it felt like a bottomless pit. In the midst of all that mess, I met an honest lawyer who got my affairs and my assets in order. Then (Heurelho) Gomes came to help me.”
“I worked with a psychologist, and, most importantly, I met my wife. With her, I felt love for the first time.”
“One evening, as I was driving my wife to the airport, I looked her straight in the eye and said, “Thank you for saving my life.” How many times, while driving, have I thought about crashing into a wall! Now that she’s here, I don’t think about that nonsense anymore. She and my son mean everything to me.”