Fernandinho on warring with Reds, Germany woes and more
“When you’re 5- 0 down after 30 minutes of a World Cup semi, your reaction is, ‘ Bloody hell, what’s going on?!’ You doubt reality”
Fernandinho has come a long way. Now in his ninth Premier League season, not only will he lead Manchester City in their challenge to retain the trophy – his fourth and counting – but the 36- year- old is also on the verge of another achievement. Having started the 2021- 22 campaign only 14 matches short of Willian as the Brazilian with the most appearances in Premier League history, City’s midfield general will surely soon surpass his compatriot.
It’ll come as no surprise when he does. Conspicuous by his consistency over the Sky Blues’ golden era, and a highly influential character within Pep Guardiola’s star- studded squad, the Citizens captain has become a role model for the club’s youngsters – and also those much closer to home. The only time Fernandinho politely interrupts a long chat with FFT is to wrap a bandage around the shin of his 11- year- old son Davi, who is training with City’s academy. “Once he saw his dad doing it, then he started to copy, you know?” the City skipper chuckles, pride enveloping his angular face.
There’s plenty to get through. From being benched for City’s eagerly awaited Champions League final in May to almost leaving Manchester in the summer, via trophy hoarding, happy days at Shakhtar Donetsk and his puzzling international career, he’s ready to answer your questions…
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m guessing you didn’t want to be a defensive midfielder when you were growing up in Brazil?! Who was your inspiration back then? Douglas Bell, Middlesbrough
Funnily enough, beyond not wanting to be a defensive midfielder, I wanted to be a goalkeeper! Around the time of the 1990 World Cup, I was five years old and remember that [ Claudio]
Taffarel was one of the most talkedabout players of the national team.
There was constant footage of him on TV and that grabbed my attention. I was also one of the youngest among the group of friends on my street, so they put me in goal. I started to really like it, but eventually my dad had a chat with me and said it would be better for my future if I played outfield.
He was an amateur midfielder, so I changed positions and started to look up to him. Being skinny and quick enabled me to contribute a lot in midfield to the teams I played for.
[ FFT: You met Taffarel years later when he became a goalkeeping coach with the national team…] Man, I was completely starstruck. I was like, “Bloody hell, that’s Taffarel!” [ Laughs]
I told him that I wanted to become a keeper and we had a laugh about it. He said, “Thank God you didn’t...”
I once visited your hometown of Londrina, and was amazed to find red telephone boxes and other UK paraphernalia. What’s the story? Lee Pethers, via Instagram
The name Londrina pays homage to London – it actually means ‘ little London’. If you look at the Londrina flag, it’s red with some stars. At the beginning of the 20th century, shortly before Londrina’s foundation, the region was an important route for coffee producers. History says that an Englishman got there on a foggy, cold day and compared its climate to London’s. That’s where ‘ Londrina’ comes from. If you take an aerial photo of the city centre, the cathedral, the square and all that will look like the shape of the Great Britain flag.
I really miss those days. Every time I go back to Londrina, I meet my childhood friends for a coffee and we remember all the stories. On my very last day there before I went to Curitiba, aged 17, to join Athletico Paranaense, we got together for a pizza. A friend said, “I’ll get your autograph today because one day you’ll be famous.”
I autographed loads of pizzeria napkins, but I barely knew how to do it – I’d never given one before! Not long ago when I was back, a friend showed me this piece of paper with such a horrible signature. [ Laughs]
Thiago Silva told FFT last season that he enjoys flying kites when he’s in Brazil. Do you have any interesting hobbies like that? Are you a secret chess grandmaster, maybe? Kai Watts, Prescot
Sadly, I don’t know how to play chess. I used to play draughts, but I wasn’t very good. It’s funny – when I’m back home, I want to do what I used to as a kid. Our group of friends were quite naughty back in the day. We used to go into people’s gardens to pick fruit, mangoes and oranges, from the tree.
At times people let the dogs out to get us and we had to run and jump over the walls. [ Laughs] We were so naughty back then, man. I had this feeling recently when I was there and I picked some guava – it was so fresh
and tasted like my childhood. The only difference is that the tree was on the pavement, so I didn’t have to run away!
You scored the winner off the bench for Brazil in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship Final – but also got sent off. What happened there? @ spursdab, via Twitter
I’ll try to summarise. Brazil and Spain, both incredibly good teams, made it to the final. In the fifth minute, they had a player sent off, so we thought, ‘ Wow, now we’re going to screw them up’.
But their main man was Andres Iniesta, and they gave us a lot of work to do. I was on the bench for the whole championship, but in the final I eventually got my chance. Then Dani Alves took a corner and I scored a header. It was an explosion of joy and I celebrated passionately.
Then our striker Dagoberto was fouled and tried to waste time, so the Spaniards came to argue with him. Us Brazilians went there to protect him –
Kleber spat on one of their players, but from where the referee was watching he couldn’t see him. He saw only me!
I was like, “Ref, what happened?! I didn’t do anything!” But he wouldn’t change his mind. That aside, my winning goal is a remarkable thing that’s still proudly etched in my mind.
Why do you think so many Brazilians have made a name for themselves in Ukraine, especially at Shakhtar? ‘ Sunsetsinmyhair’, via Instagram
First, the financial side is very attractive – not only for the player but the club negotiating with Shakhtar. They can compete with clubs like Porto by paying all at once, done and dusted. Usually, they also can afford higher salaries than Portuguese, Italian and Spanish clubs.
Shakhtar are also very patient with young newcomers. They understand some players will need more time than others to settle, to develop and reach their full potential. My manager Mircea Lucescu was great at handling young talent. When I signed for Shakhtar, they had an ambitious plan of playing Champions League football every single season – then the bar got even higher, to reach the last eight. We made it once or twice and won the UEFA Cup in 2009. Those achievements consolidated Shakhtar’s name, which made the club even more attractive.
Moving directly from Brazil to Ukraine must have been a brutal transition. What was most difficult? Language, climate or culture? Rich Esteves, via Facebook
I got there when I was 20 and it was definitely a shock! I actually agreed my transfer with Shakhtar but stayed six more months at Athletico Paranaense. In the meantime, Jadson and Ivan, who were at Athletico until the end of 2004, joined them. There wasn’t Whatsapp back then, so I used to ring them and ask what the club and city were like. They said that the most striking difference to Brazil was the bonus for winning a match. “It’s 7,000 dollars!” they said.
Wow, that was a lot of money. Just to compare realities, in 2004 we fought for the league title with Santos and our bonus was 900 Brazilian reais [£ 125 in today’s money]. I eventually moved there in July, which was Europe’s summer – the city was very beautiful. To begin with, the language barrier was a big hurdle, because I needed a translator for everything: to order a taxi, or basic things like that.
But the Brazilians who were already there helped me a lot, and over time I learned the language. I had a great time, I really did, which is why I lived there for eight years.
You, Willian, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Luiz Adriano…. that Shakhtar team you played in was such good fun to watch. What made them so special? Adam Lawrence, Brent
We were young, talented and very ambitious, we wanted to make the club’s plan work, win big things and then get a transfer to a bigger club.
All of those factors were being guided by an experienced manager who’d been through so many things in football. Often our line- up featured
“MY PERFORMANCE AGAINST CHELSEA WAS SO GOOD, THEY USED FOOTAGE OF IT FOR MY VISA APPLICATION”
five or six Brazilians, so we played the Brazilian style and there was no language barrier speaking Portuguese on the pitch. We played for a long time together, too, so you understand each other’s preferences. Lucescu always emphasised that a lot. Sure, it was very cold at times but we had a lot of fun. [ FFT: Lucescu was clearly very, very well respected by everyone – why so much?] Because of his football story. He had managed Inter Milan, Brescia, and made his name in Turkey as well as his native Romania. When he got to Ukraine, Dynamo Kiev were the dominant team, winning titles with talented boys from their academy.
The turning point came in 2004 when he took charge of Shakhtar. He fell in love with Brazilian football when he faced that great Brazil side at the 1970 World Cup, and also played against Fluminense, Vasco, Flamengo – many at the Maracana. Later on, as Shakhtar had great financial power, the club could sign young, promising players who could be shaped by his vast knowledge and experience. It was a perfect match.
How important was your goalscoring performance against Chelsea in 2013 to moving to Manchester City? Aaron Fenton- Hewitt, via Instagram
No doubt it helped. That game against Chelsea in London was right up there among my best for Shakhtar. Willian was brilliant, too, scoring a brace.
And, man, that performance helped me get a working visa in the UK later – they actually used footage of it on my application. I’d been called up to represent Brazil but wasn’t getting many opportunities, even though I knew that I had the quality to play international football. I hoped that moving to a top league would give me the visibility I needed, so with that in mind, the ambitious Manchester City project suited my objectives perfectly.
It turned out Shakhtar didn’t want to sell me, as I had three years of my contract left. I talked to the director, the captain and everybody was telling me to enjoy my holidays in Brazil, but no chance. I got two meetings with the Shakhtar chairman – in the first, no luck. He offered me a new five- year deal and said I could get all the money in the first year whenever I wanted it, but I told him that wasn’t the priority for me. I was 28 and chasing the best for my career. They finally accepted City’s bid, but it was far from easy.
You’re a combative defensive midfielder who very rarely gets sent off. What’s your secret? Jake Mier, via Instagram
That’s a tough one. Over the past eight years I’ve played under two different managers, each of them with his own style, and I’ve just tried to adapt my qualities to what they’ve asked. Thank God, in the first three years under [ Manuel] Pellegrini and now with Pep things went well, and my displays helped the team to win titles. I don’t spend my time looking at stats. After matches, I head home to enjoy quality time with my kids, and then back to work the next day. Winning makes me happy, losing leaves me sad, but I don’t bother much about numbers.
What do you enjoy most about living in Manchester? If you had a friend coming over to stay with you, where would you take them? Andrei Rydz, via Instagram
Actually, I live outside Manchester, where it’s very calm and chilled. At times I’m at home and the only thing I can hear are the birds.
But Manchester is a great place with loads of things to do. There’s a great Science and Industry Museum in town, given Manchester’s huge role in the Industrial Revolution. We have the National Football Museum, as well. It really depends what you’re looking for.
A must is going to a typical English pub, right? So I think I would take this friend to Manchester’s oldest pub [ The Old Wellington], which is right in the heart of the city centre.
What do you feel about the date of July 8, 2014? Brazil 1- 7 Germany. Rei Do Norte, via Twitter FFT:
Nothing. [ Nothing?] Nothing. Obviously it was a tough day for every Brazilian – the fans and mainly the players, actually. Even though our performances weren’t at the best level, when it comes to the World Cup there’s always expectation on Brazil. The national team hadn’t reached the semi- finals since 2002, the year we last won it, and we were on home soil.
Talking about it now, Germany’s team was clearly way better than ours. They’d been playing together for much longer, their manager had been in charge for years, so they were just better prepared than us. We imagined that having our fans there would push us through, but the match unfolded in a way that nobody expected. Not even the biggest pessimist saw that coming.
When you’re 5- 0 down after 30 minutes of a World Cup semi- final, your reaction is, ‘ Bloody hell, what’s going on?’ You doubt the reality. We were devastated and had to deal with heavy criticism, which is part of our job. If you look at that squad, virtually everybody turned things around at their clubs – many of us remained playing for the national team and had the opportunity to play another World Cup. Something like that can’t define your life personally or professionally.
How disappointing was it to only make the last eight at Russia 2018? Reece Scott, Derby
We were massively gutted, man. That was a big one. That time the team was very well trained and prepared. When Tite took charge in 2016, everyone was quite confident. Brazil went from being under pressure and possibly not reaching the finals, to qualifying top of
the group. Our confidence was quite high but knockouts are tough: if you win, you are the king, and if you’re knocked out, you are useless. I was watching highlights the other day and I didn’t remember that we had so many chances against Belgium in that game. Apart from Germany, who scored maybe seven out of seven, I’m not sure another team has created so many clear chances. What can I say? We created many of them but didn’t put them in the back of the net.
Has Pep Guardiola been the most influential person in your football career? How has he improved you? Cal Pattinson, via Instagram
Man, although I was already 30 when we started to work together, he’s been quite influential indeed. Before he arrived, people were saying I was about to leave because I didn’t fit anywhere. But under him I took my game to a much higher level. It’s unbelievable the way he explains things – it’s just natural to him. You keep asking yourself, ‘ Why haven’t I been taught this way before?’
Lucescu played a big part for me too, because of my young age back then, and going even further back, [ former Athletico manager] Mario Sergio also played an immense role shaping me for how a professional should behave.
Tite is well worth mentioning about his man management too – I believe he’s the best I’ve worked with... just incredible. You guys don’t have an idea about who Adenor Bachi [ Tite] is as a human being. If one day I decide to become a manager, I’d be the happiest coach if I can combine the qualities from all these great men.
What was it like being part of the Manchester City team in 2019 that won a treble? Was that the greatest team you’ve ever been involved in? Josh Gratton, via Instagram
Blimey, it’s never easy to pick the best side without being unfair to someone. Too tricky, that one – I dodge this bullet whenever I can! With the treble team, we’d won the league one year earlier and wanted to truly consolidate our work. In football, that happens when you remain at the top whether with great performances or results.
So we set our own targets. United were the previous team to defend their title, in 2008 or 2009. And here we are talking about Ferguson’s time, right? When you achieve that, you start to think, ‘ What’s next?’
To keep winning is an amazing feeling, so you want more and more. The 2017- 18 season was fantastic too – 100 points in the Premier League really is something. The Champions League quarter- final loss [ to Liverpool] aside, our game was impeccable. Perhaps we got to that point because it was the first season that Pep had the squad he really wanted.
The rivalry with Liverpool became fierce for a few seasons. What was it like to be a part of? Danny Gregory, Southport
The timeline is [ Jurgen] Klopp joining Liverpool in 2015, Pep coming to City the following year, and their rivalry from Germany was moved to England. Both teams played the best football of the league with absurd intensity, each side with their own quality players and a diverse range of characteristics that culminated in fascinating clashes.
I love playing in those matches. We know the historic rivalry is between
Liverpool and United, but City acted with stealth while United were sort of reeling. After our 3- 0 away defeat in the 2017- 18 quarter- finals against Liverpool, Pep set up with the boldest formation I’ve ever seen from him at City: a back three, with one holding midfielder – me – and the rest of the team all attacking players. We scored the opener in two minutes and totally dominated the first half. At half- time we went to a back four and lost [ 2- 1].
I was good friends with Lucas [ Leiva] and [ Philippe] Coutinho, then [ Roberto] Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson came. Between us Brazilians we’re all like,
“I welcome you to my place, we have tasty barbecues and a laugh, but on the pitch each of us will fight for our colours, mate.” [ Laughs] I kicked Coutinho a few times but he’s so quick – what could I do?! Fabinho and I have had some interesting midfield duels, having a go at each other sometimes, but then we laugh about it. Respect is above anything else for us.
“IT’S A WONDERFUL FEELING TO CAPTAIN
THIS CLUB. I TAKE SO MUCH PRIDE IN IT”
Sadly, you got injured as Brazil won the 2019 Copa America. Was it hard to watch from the sidelines for such a major event? Carlos Santos, London
I damaged the medial collateral ligament of my knee in April 2019, so I missed the FA Cup final because I wasn’t 100 per cent. Then I joined the Brazil camp and the physios did a great job, so I was able to remain painless for friendlies and our Copa America debut opener Bolivia.
But when it came to the second match against Venezuela, I got the exact same injury that prevented me from playing virtually the whole tournament. Tite decided to keep me in the squad, saying my presence would help the guys, and I managed to be fit for the semi- final and final.
It was such an honour for me to be a champion with Brazil regardless of what happened in the World Cups and the Copa America in Chile [ in 2015]. It’s what Brazilian fans care about – titles, nothing else. I achieved that with an amazing group of players.
Which player’s ability has surprised you the most since being a Man City player, and within English football more generally? Jacob Hughes, via Instagram
Not that I didn’t know him – in fact, we faced each other when I was at Shakhtar and he was at Valencia – but it has to be David Silva. It was so impressive to see him in the flesh for several reasons: his technical ability, cleverness in positioning and reading the game, knowing when to speed things up and when to slow down.
There were no bad words to say about him inside the dressing room – no ego at all, no privileges. You can play with him for 15 years and won’t have a single problem with him. Here at City and also at Shakhtar I was very lucky to have amazing team- mates. I’m not sure how I would react if I had a load of pretentious guys with me in the dressing room.
I’m always interested to imagine how a professional player like you, who’s played at the highest level for a long time, deals with pressure. Do you ever feel it? How do you cope? Freddie Burke, Blackburn
Over the years you learn to manage these things better, and here in England the amount of matches you have doesn’t give you much time to think. You must be focused all the time. ‘ This game is over, what’s next?’
What I usually say to young players is not to pay attention to what’s on the internet – don’t watch the news before the game, after the game. When we made the team’s codes of conduct, one of the things was to ban phones before and after matches. Otherwise, when the final whistle was blown, the guys would pick them up to find out if people were saying good or bad things about them. That will always be there: if you play well, people will say the sky’s the limit, but if you play badly, people will condemn you.
We should care about our players and all the staff who are behind us. There’s so much work behind the scenes until kick- off, and that’s what we should value as a squad.
Everybody expected you to start the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea, which led to a great deal of criticism. What did you think about it? Did it really affect the result as much as many people said? Fardan Fasya, via Instagram
I expected to start, too! [ Laughs] It’s tough to measure what impact that decision had on the final result. Internally, we talk about how strong our squad is and how good the side will be even if Pep picks it with his eyes closed. Usually, his final decision is down to tiny details, depending on how he thinks this certain player will perform against this or that team.
I don’t believe the line- up was the main reason why we lost the match. [ FFT: How were you informed?] He gave his traditional talk the night before the match, and obviously I was expecting to be in the starting XI because I’d played the semi- final at home. I was completely ready for it. When I wasn’t named, the best thing that I could do was behave to a high standard and back my team- mates – we’d all come a long way to reach that stage we’d dreamed of. We wanted to finish the season with a flourish badly, which is why I motivated the lads as much as I could. I played for 15 or 20 minutes, but unfortunately we couldn’t make it. It was brutal.
How close were you to leaving Manchester City in the summer? Steve Lowe, Manchester
Man, I was quite close to leaving – and that’s the truth. There was so much on the table to analyse, I was in deadlock. That made me leave the decision to when last season was finished.
First, my priority was to have my mind 100 per cent on the team. Then I negotiated with only one team apart from Man City, which was Athletico Paranaense. They made a proper offer to me. My wife and I were like, “If we go back to Brazil, we will have this; if we stay in England, we will have that.” When City offered me a new contract, we spent a few days at home weighing up both possibilities.
One of the key factors that made us stay is that we are applying for British citizenship, but it’s also a wonderful feeling to captain this club. I take so much pride in it. [ FFT: So, will 2021- 22 be your last season at City?] No, it’s still too early to say that. I don’t like to deal with rumours, and the only fact I have at the moment is that my contract is until June 30, 2022.
I don’t want to plan too many things in advance and then change it due to unforeseen circumstances. I’m no longer the priority – my kids come first.