English National League South side Whitehawk F.C. are having their five minutes of fame in Brazil as ESPN wrote a piece about the club.
The article is about the seven Brazilian players in the squad, and they still dream of achieving something bigger in their football career.
The attacker Marquinhos, 21 years of age, for example, takes Jamie Vardy as an inspiration to believe it’s never too late to break through the top level.
“He’s an example of how everything is possible if you work hard. Since the opportunity here came I thought of him, because it’s something real and that encourages me a lot,” Marquinhos told ESPN Brasil.
“My career dream is to play in the Champions League, and to help my family through football. I always aim for the childhood dream of wearing the national team shirt, but with the feet on the ground and going step by step.”
Vardy is repeatedly referenced in media around the world as an example of a player who has achieved great things after a lesser start to his career.
Likewise, Leicester City’s success means that whenever there’s a chance of a smaller team doing well in world football, it’s now often referred to as ‘doing a Leicester’.
Fullback Rodrigo Mann, 23 years of age, had his say on playing for a small English side too: “It’s a very good structure for a sixth division, there are very few bad aspects. The pitch is excellent, the stadium is good and it fits around two thousand people. The fanbase is fanatic and is present in every game supporting us.”
“I was approached on Facebook by a Spaniard from the times of Atlético-PR. He knew the manager and they have contacted me. I received the offer at home with the contract and didn’t have to do a trial,” he says.
The player also says he wants to be in the Premier League one day, but is taking it slowly: “My goal is to reach as far as possible, go to the second division and even the Premier League. For that, I have to go step by step, little by little. I hope I can shine here and achieve better things in the future.”
