With Brazilian outlet UOL featuring interviews with national team players who are about to go to Qatar, Liverpool midfielder Fabinho had a long chat with them about his path to success.
It turns out that when speaking of his time back at Real Madrid, he recalled his friendship with Casemiro, who’s now playing for Manchester United.
Fabinho spoke a little about the rivalry between Liverpool and the Red Devils, pointing out that there are other Brazil teammates who ended up moving to Old Trafford, which he calls the ‘wrong place’ to go.
“It’s curious to think that during that time at Real Madrid B, still as a right-back, I had a lot of help from the guy who now competes with me for the starting place at the Brazilian national team: Casemiro,” Fabinho told UOL.
“When he was signed, I was even surprised because he was already known in Brazil, but maybe it was the best decision of his career. Our relationship was very good. Since I didn’t have a driver’s license and he lived close by, I would ride with him to training.”
“Today, at the national team, we joke a lot about that time. He says ‘you were never waiting for me, you were always late’. And I can’t even argue because it’s true (laughs). When I left and saw him winning opportunities at Real, I always sent him a congratulatory message. Regardless of whether we compete for position, we get along very well.
“He had already commented that he’d like to play in the Premier League. Too bad he went to the wrong place in England, huh? I hope he doesn’t improve Manchester United that much. He, Fred, Antony, there are a lot of Brazilians going to the wrong place in the country (laughs).”
The Brazilian national team has been packed with Premier League players in the past few years, and in the current World Cup squad, most of their footballers belong to English clubs.
All of Manchester United’s Brazilians have made it to the squad, while at Liverpool, despite the call-ups of Alisson and Fabinho, Roberto Firmino ended up being left out of the list.
Brazil will also have players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Newcastle United.
