Coutinho hits the big league
Liverpool star scores stunning goal for Brazil
LVERPOOL’S boy from Brazil is coming of age. Despite Philippe Coutinho’s potential, the question lingered of when or if he would elevate himself to world-class status.
For both club and country, this is becoming a breakthrough season, with Coutinho the outstanding performer in Liverpool’s emerging title bid.
The 24-year-old transferred his impressive domestic form to the international stage with a stunning goal against Argentina in midweek, prompting renewed expectation of a bid from Barcelona.
“His ambition is to be in the list of the top 10 players [in the world],” Rodney Goncalves, Coutinho’s former youth coach at Vasco da Gama, said.
“The Brazil squad needed to renew itself after the World Cup and everybody expected that he would be selected. Now he is, and this moment is very special.
“With Neymar and Coutinho playing together again, they are seen as the couple that can give us a lot of titles.
“They played together in the Brazilian youth teams and were the players who stood out when they played against each other.
“Coutinho can become a very popular player in Brazil and around the world like Neymar, he just needs to get a sequence of games in the Brazilian squad.
“There is pressure on him but it is not a problem. He plays at a big club and plays in the most important league in the world.”
The Liverpool man was once considered ahead of Neymar when his country looked to its next generation.
“Coutinho started at Vasco da Gama in 2000, when he was just eight years old,” Goncalves, who is still a close friend of the Liverpool forward, said.
“The scouts of Vasco da Gama brought information about this young player who was giving great performances during the school tournaments. That was when he was signed and I had the pleasure to coach him in the U17 team.
“Normally players need time to adapt and understand the new targets, but once he joined us it was immediate.”
Coutinho was headhunted by Inter Milan at 16, joining two years later in 2010. He was declared “the future of Milan” by then manager Rafa Benitez, but within three months his journey to Liverpool was beginning.
Liverpool’s South American scout, Fernando Troiani, was pivotal in triggering negotiations with Coutinho’s representatives and a deal was struck in 2013.
Coutinho’s game has evolved to the point where he and Neymar may soon be on the same pedestal again.
Yet Goncalves has a message for worried Liverpool fans. “He always says he is very happy at Liverpool and his biggest challenge is to win the Premier League and Champions League with them,” he said.
“He knows that if he continues to give great performances for Liverpool, he will always be selected for Brazil.” – The Telegraph