DRIVING FORCE
When I doubted I’d make it, Dad paid for medicine to make me tougher. He was my…
THE word runs down his neck, just beneath his right ear. Bernard, Everton’s dainty winger, has other tattoos but this simple inscription carries the most meaning. It reads ‘persist’ and he wants to explain the significance.‘In my life that’s what I’ve had to do,’ he says. ‘The number of people who told me I would not get anywhere and I wouldn’t make it. So persist is the word of my life. I’m here because of persistence.’
There is more to this story, though, than sheer bloodymindedness. All footballers must overcome obstacles but the hurdles Bernard has cleared to end up at Goodison Park are different. He faced prejudice due to his size in his native Brazil, while there was the trauma of civil war in Ukraine.
His biggest fight, however, was with nature. Bernard is only 5ft 5in and to stand next to him, you wonder how he can withstand some of the big hits and intensity in the Premier League.
There is a telling wince as he recalls his first appearance at Bournemouth in August.
‘Look at me,’ he says with a selfdeprecating smile. ‘I’m not going to win a physical battle, am I?’
But it turns out Bernard has won a battle and that, in part, was due to the unstinting efforts of his devoted father, Delio.
Delio knew his son’s stature would present a challenge in life, but he also believed Bernard had the gifts to take him from Belo Horizonte to the biggest stages.
‘I received treatment for my size when I was younger and it was very expensive,’ says Bernard.
‘My father couldn’t afford it but, somehow, he found the resources to help me and pay for the treatment. It wasn’t hormone injections. It was more to do with my diet and nutrition. I need medicine and supplements and I would have a special syrup before I went to bed. With this medical support, it got me to the place that I needed. Dad always watches football. He loves it!
‘He was my driving force. In the moments I had doubts, he would fill me with belief. He kept saying: “With your qualities, you will make it.” I thought about giving up at times but he wouldn’t let me.
‘You remember your family. They drive your dreams. I have to stress what he did for me — 35 years he worked without ever taking a holiday. When I moved to Donetsk, he came over with me. It was time for me to do something for him. He could forget about work and enjoy his life. He deserved the rest!’
Delio, clearly, was a shrewd judge. Atletico Minero turned Bernard away twice but, finally, gave him a chance as a teenager.
Soon word began to spread and scouts from all over Europe watched as he helped Atletico win South America’s biggest prize, the Copa Libertadores, in 2013.
At that point, he says there were offers from Arsenal and tomorrow’s opponents Tottenham. Borussia Dortmund were admirers, as were Porto but he opted to join Shakhtar Donetsk, where an enclave of 10 more Brazilians, including the now Manchester United midfielder Fred, made it home from home.
‘The first year I moved there, it was fine,’ he explains. ‘I had all the support I required. We had a real little community. When you move that far — the distance, the cold weather, the culture where people aren’t so communicative — it really helped to adapt.’
But then came the troubles. Shakhtar became the club without a home and needed to play their games in Lviv, 780 miles away; the incendiary situation was, in his words, ‘frightening’.
‘We lost our stadium, our training centre, everything,’ says Bernard. ‘You had to travel then for home and away matches. When you think of the structure, how difficult was that for the fans? We experienced some real difficult moments. But when you sign up for a club, you commit to them. You have a duty to make the best of it.’
The way Bernard explains things, there is never any negativity.
The 26-year-old will be away from home at Christmas for the first time — Ukraine had a winter break — but we meet on the day Everton’s squad have visited Alder Hey children’s hospital and he can see perspective.
‘These visits give you a chance to appreciate and take stock,’ he says. ‘I don’t have children but, of course, I empathise. You see what the parents are doing, really trying to give strength to the kids.
‘You see some very sad situations and I pray for these children. We complain about little things on a day-to-day basis but this visit makes you aware of reality.’
But Bernard, who joined Everton in August on a free transfer, does not complain about anything. There is no sense of entitlement, no bitterness, not even when the subject of a famous game arises.
Bernard played 90 minutes when Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-final. He had won his place in the team after Neymar was injured in the last eight but has not kicked a ball for his country since.
‘Wow! What can I say,’ he says with a shake of the head. ‘There is no explanation for it. It is the beauty of football that a result of that nature can happen but, for us, it remains totally illogical. It might happen again, but it won’t be for another 100 or 200 years.
‘I think about it now and I still don’t know what happened or how it happened. To be called back into the Selecao, I need to play well for Everton. The team needs to be playing well. There has to be a collection of factors for me to wear that shirt again. God willing that will happen.’
First priority is to help Everton. He is 15 games into his Goodison career and is convinced the decision to pick them was the right one. Results may have been patchy in recent weeks but his conviction is that things will change.
‘I listened to the various projects and considered them all,’ says Bernard. ‘But, without doubt, the future of Everton, the structure of the club and the great things Marco Silva spoke about were key influences. Now it is up to me to play well.’