THE INTERVIEWTOM FROM RIO TO CRAWLEY
Via Angola, Ukraine, Italy & Canvey Island
WHEN Danny Cowley, boss of Concord Rangers, said Evandro Rachoni de Lima was the best keeper ever to play for the club, a handful of scouts and agents washed up on Canvey Island’s shores.
They saw the Brazilian keep a clean sheet on his debut in a 1-0 Conference South win over Staines a fortnight ago.
And after witnessing the 25-year-old’s display, Cowley was quick to tell the footballing nomad that he should be playing at a much higher level.
Rachoni agreed, and perhaps with good reason.
After all, he came through the same youth team set-up at Santos that spawned Neymar, albeit two years ahead of the Barcelona superstar.
And since then he has played for Fluminense in Brazil’s state championships and as a pro in, bizarrely, Angola and Ukraine.
His first team in the Ukraine was Premier League side Arsenal Kiev.
They went bankrupt in 2013, so he joined lower league FK Retro before fleeing the country after coming face-to-face with rebel fighters who boarded the team bus when war broke out.
Rachoni eventually arrived in Britain via Italy – he qualifies for an Italian passport through one of his grandfathers – and he linked up with Essex Senior League side London Bari before touching down at Concord.
He caught the eye in his one and only game for the Islanders and, last Tuesday, turned out for Dean Saunders’ League One Crawley in a Sussex Senior Cup tie against Whitehawk.
Chances
He used the game to look at eight trialists and young players, but had a man sent off shortly after the break and saw his side concede two penalties – which did not do Rachoni’s chances many favours as they lost 6-1.
But it did not stop Saunders, who has lost No.1 Brian Jensen to an injured thumb, asking the Brazilian to be part of the squad for their league clash at Rochdale yesterday, when he was on the bench.
Rachoni’s is already some life story and now he is hoping the latest stopover on his world tour will lead to a pro contract – be it with Crawley or another British club.
He has given himself a further three weeks to impress in England, but i f nothing materialises he will take up offers in the USA from the Austin Aztex or Kitsap Pumas – who play in the USL Premier Development League, two rungs below the MLS.
Rachoni said: “I just need one opportunity to show what I can do. It has been tough and people think footballers’ lives are all glamour, but it can be very hard as well.
“I have had some great experiences, though, and Angola was one of them.
“I was 20 then and Interclube Luanda offered a very good salary, an apartment, a car, everything – they have a lot of money.
“And in the end it gave me the chance to play in Angola with Rivaldo for a year, which was a really great experience.
“But two years in Angola was enough and then my brotherin-law Leandro da Silva, who was at Arsenal Kiev in Ukraine, told me they needed a keeper and I joined him there.
Wages
“I played some big games for Arsenal Kiev, against Dynamo Kiev in front of 25,000 to 30,000 people, and I played against Fernandinho, who is now at Manchester City, when he was at Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Arsenal Kiev were one of the big teams in Ukraine, but after six, seven months, they stopped paying many players’ wages.
“They had no money to go to matches by plane, we had to go by bus, and it got crazy. My brother-in-law moved to Russia, but the transfer window closed so I couldn’t go anywhere.
“I joined FK Retro and when I was there the war started.
“The president decided we would go to a city two hours from Kiev, to keep the players safe, but it meant a bus journey to the games.
“One time, we were on the way back and, in two hours, our bus was stopped by rebels seven times.
“I was the only player from outside the Ukraine and I was really scared.
“Some of the rebel guys had good minds, they want to make things good in Ukraine, but some guys only wanted to make trouble and it was a really bad situation.
“After the Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down I decided that it was impossible to stay there.”
It was that decision which ultimately led Rachoni to London and his opportunity to impress at Crawley.
League One rivals Peterborough have also said they will take a look at him, but if nothing is doing in a couple of weeks, Rachoni and his gloves will be on the move again.