Lucas Leiva agree with him. So I said: “Yes.” He was very surprised with my answer. He said: “Yes?!” I could see on his face he was not happy, so I said: “No.” He said: “No?” And I said “No.” And that’s it. I have never asked him what he was asking me. [Laughs] I don’t want to know. He might not even remember it now, but for me it was like: ‘What am I doing?’ It was a funny story.”
Your second move was from Grêmio to Liverpool. Was it a feeling of ‘now or never’ in terms of coming to Europe? “A few people said I was a bit crazy to come to England, actually, because normally we see Brazilian players leaving Brazil for Portugal or Spain, where the coaching is similar and the language is easier. But Liverpool came and I couldn’t say no, really. It was the same as when I was 14 and moved away from Dourados – that was my chance then, and I thought: ‘This is my chance now, and I have to take it.’ Of course it was a big move that came with a lot of pressure, so it was another stage of my career where I had to learn a lot and be patient. I had to have determination to get to where I wanted to be. And, I think, after five years here I’m getting closer to where I want to be.” You post a lot of pictures on Twitter of your jaunts around the city. We’re curious – how does a boy from Brazil fall in love with Liverpool? “Liverpool is my home now. My son was born here, and now when I go back to Brazil it’s for holidays... and where I come back to, Liverpool, is home. I post pictures just to
“At the very beginning of my career here, I couldn’t speak any English. Carra came up to me in the dressing room and asked me a question... I didn’t understand a word” share a bit with the fans and to show them around Liverpool, because I don’t think a lot of people know how nice it is. All they know is The Beatles. Of course they are a big thing, but there is a lot more about Liverpool than The Beatles and the football. I didn’t know that either when I came here, to be honest. I only knew about the football club and The Beatles, but then I found out a lot of good things about the city and about the people – it’s a lovely city.” All Liverpool players have a Jamie Carragher story. What’s yours? “I do have one, yeah. At the very beginning of my career here I couldn’t speak any English, and Carra came up to me in the dressing room and asked me a question. I didn’t understand a word, but I just thought I had to
You play Spurs at Anfield on Sunday. Is that a game you think Liverpool have to win to be in with a chance of a European spot? “They are doing really well this season and you can see they’ve won quite a few games in the last few minutes – these things show their confidence is very high. We know the gap between us and the European places is quite big now [Liverpool are five points from fifth-placed Arsenal], but we just need to make sure that we play well. And, if we do that, we will have a big chance to win the game and move up the table. Unfortunately, we need teams to drop points now – but I think they will. And, of course, we need to make sure we drop less points than the others.” Do the players see genuine development under Brendan Rodgers? “The season has been a hard one for us, but we have a lot of positive things to take from it, and good performances against big teams. We are always trying to find the consistency – that’s what we try to do for the next 10 games. If we can find it, then for sure the next season will be a better one.” Lucas was speaking to Graham Beecroft
LiverpooL’s Foundations Lucas is an ambassador for the Liverpool FC Foundation, which provides community, health and education programmes that inspire positive change and build better futures for young people and adults. “When you see the projects the foundation runs, you appreciate what you have in life,” he says. “ When you have a bad game, you realise that you have a lot of people around you who have been in worse moments, and that’s why you have to keep going. I love spending time with the kids, because it’s good for them. But I think it’s good for me as well. Even if you can only spend an hour with them, you can see a smile on the kids’ faces. It makes you very happy.” Follow the Liverpool FC Foundation on Twitter at @LFCFoundation
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Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images, Ant Clausen Photography Ltd
Luis Suárez is such a competitor on the pitch. Is he the same on the training ground? Do you have to get out of the way quick if he goes in for a tackle? “Yeah, he is. It’s just his character, and that’s why he’s so successful – because he has the hunger to win all the time. He’s having a fantastic season and we just hope he keeps going and getting better and better. It’s difficult to imagine if he gets better, where he will be, but he is doing very well for us.”