Dad was a labourer... when his shoes were falling off he would still buy me boots DARWIN NUNEZ EXCLUSIVE
LIVERPOOL’S new £85million man Darwin Nunez has already scored the most important goal of his life.
When the Uruguay striker, 22, was having kickabouts with his mates in the streets of Artigas, a city situated close to the Brazilian border, he would dream of one day being good enough to buy his parents a new house.
The humble family home Nunez shared with dad Bibiano, mother Silvia Ribeiro and older brother Junior was built on the flood plain of the Cuareim River and the few sticks of furniture they owned would often be washed away.
Nunez has always believed his mission in life is to look after the people who sacrificed everything to give him a chance to escape the poverty he was born into.
“I never forget where I have come from,” he said.
“I’m part of a humble, hard-working family.
“My father worked as a labourer on a building site for eight or nine hours every day and when his shoes were falling off his feet he would still try to find money to buy me football boots.
“My mum was a housewife but she walked through the streets of the town collecting empty bottles to sell back to the stores.
“We had a house in Artigas – but it was never in good condition (because of flooding).
“My first thought when I started playing football was to buy a house for my parents and set up a business for them.
“That was my goal and I have achieved it.
“I have kept working hard to please my mum and dad because they did everything for me.
“It is like I am giving them something back for all the love they gave to me.”
Nunez added: “A father’s love is unique.
“My dad showed me that not everything in life is material.
“Yes, I often went to bed with an empty belly but the one person in the house who always went to bed with the emptiest belly was my mum.
“A mother does everything for her children.
“Often my
mum went to sleep at night without eating anything because she wanted to feed the rest of us.
“I grew up in a poor neighbourhood but I am proud of where I came from.
“It was there that I learned how important it is to share things.
“When I was with my friends, we would all bring something we could all share, like a snack or some candy.
“I used to go to school at 7am because they would give us something to eat.
“When I got out of school at 3pm, I would go straight to training because mum wasn’t at home.
“She was always out collecting bottles.”
Nunez was spotted by a scout from Penarol and moved 370 miles to Montevideo aged 14 to join the club’s academy.
Brother Junior was also on Penarol’s books and had just started training with the first team when he was forced to call time on his fledgling career to return to
Artigas and help with a family emergency.
Junior refused
to take his sibling with him and urged the young forward to realise both of their dreams.
Nunez’s route to the top was not smooth, though.
He needed an operation at 16 to repair knee ligament damage and went back under the knife again after playing through the pain barrier to make his senior debut.
“My knee hurt, but I gritted my teeth to play,” he said.
“The medics told me it was in my head, but at the end of the game I came off the pitch crying from the pain.
“They had to operate again – this time on my patella. Again there was a lot of suffering.”
Nunez moved to Europe to sign for Spanish club Almeria in 2019 and a season later was snapped up by Portuguese giants Benfica for £20.5m. He could eventually become Liverpool’s record signing, with the Reds paying £64.2m up front plus another £25m in add-ons. Yet Nunez’s spectacular rise has often been plagued with doubts.
He had to seek psychological help when he became the target of social media trolls while playing for Uruguay at the 2019 Under-20s World Cup in Poland.
He said: “I used to look at the (social media) networks a lot – but then I saw comments that I didn’t like.
“They actually made me feel sick. The criticism started to get me down and I had to speak to the national team psychologist Axel Ocampo. He helped me a lot but the answer was simple. “Now I don’t turn my phone on in the dressing room to read what is being said about me. “I only turn my phone on after games to speak with my family and friends. “I will only listen to the people who have been supportive.”
‘I grew up in a poor neighbourhood but I am proud of where I’m from’