ESPN Brasil recently had an interview with full-back Fábio da Silva which they’re still releasing short bits of.
One of the parts which goes to their website this week is where the 31-year-old remembers some of his teammates at Manchester United who didn’t get the same media attention as some stars from that time.
Fabio started talking about Paul Scholes, claiming the midfielder didn’t get much recognition in Brazil, but his talent had been respected by very important people in European football, including two Barcelona legends.
“Paul Scholes doesn’t have much coverage,” Fabio da Silva told ESPN Brasil.
“Only those who understand the subject well, who followed him in England. In Brazil, it is difficult to speak. Of course there are people who study and know who the guy is. What the guy was actually. You know what Paul Scholes did. Like when Iniesta and Xavi… this scene just keeps coming to my head. When he was going to retire in 2011, the game was over and the two came running for him to swap his shirt. Iniesta and Xavi asking to swap shirts with Paul Scholes. Just so you get a sense of how he was different.”
Then Fabio also remembered Dimitar Berbatov. He claimed that even though the striker wouldn’t always show a lot of desire on the pitch, his skills still made him a different player.
“Berbatov is another one that few people will talk about, especially at Manchester United, because he didn’t run very much. And Manchester fans… if you don’t run, the fans complain. He wasn’t a guy who ran a lot. But he was technically a genius.”
“The ball control that this guy had, to this day, I haven’t seen anyone. No player in the history of football. You could shoot the ball that he’d control with his foot, go out, pass. It was impressive.”
Between 2007 and 2014, Fabio won five titles for Manchester United: two Premier Leagues titles, one League Cup and two Community Shields, most of them with Scholes and Berbatov by his side.
Now at French side Nantes, the full-back has been teasing with a return to Brazil to play with his brother at their childhood club Botafogo.
