In Their Own Words: João Pedro

Teenage attacker discusses his journey from the streets of Brazil to the bright lights of the Premier League...

I was born in Ribeirão Preto in Brazil and even though at the age of 10 we moved to Rio de Janeiro, I still love the place. We would always go back there during the holidays so that I could see friends, and I still talk to them now. After moving to Rio we started having some economic issues. We had some properties that we rented out but there was a time when they were empty and no-one was renting them. We couldn’t afford to buy things like trainers, clothes and food. But we got through it and to be honest, I think that experience made me realise that I needed to focus on football so that in the future I could provide for my family, my mother and my grandmother. I have to be thankful to God that it has worked out.

As a child I would play football anywhere and everywhere – in the park, in the street, at home. I admired players like Robinho, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, but the main one for me was Neymar. His dribbling on the pitch is amazing and he does things I don’t see others doing. When I was really young my favourite team was Corinthians, but after I went to Fluminense I started to support them. I always tried to watch the big Premier League games on TV as well, the ones involving the top six, even though I didn’t really have a favourite team in England.

At the age of 10 my family and I moved to Rio so I could join Fluminense. I was playing in a cup competition in Ribeirão Preto and in one game I scored two goals – a header and a volley. After the game I went to a street vendor selling burgers and a representative from Fluminense approached my mum and asked if we would be interested in going to trials. The truth is, they were looking for kids older than me, but then all of the clubs started getting interested – Santos, Corinthians, São Paulo. We decided to go with Fluminense – in fact it was my mum who made the decision. She just felt that was the right choice, and I was fortunate that we were in the position to be able to choose which club I was going to join.

When I was a youth player at Fluminense I remember watching Richarlison. He was a different player then but he had a lot of potential and he ended up leaving Fluminense for Watford, as I have done myself more recently. After he came to England, I would watch highlights and videos of him that would come up on social networks. Now he’s part of the national team and like many others, he has kept going up in his career. I always try to identify what each player brings to the table, and with Richarlison I saw that he could use his left and right foot. When he found out I was coming to England we spoke over Instagram. I remember he welcomed me and said that Watford is a great team and that he evolved a lot while he was here.

When I was playing in the Under-17s championship, my agent told me there were a few clubs interested in me and that one of them was from England. He left it there because at that point I was preparing for the final so he wanted me to focus on that, but after the championship he asked if I was interested and I said I definitely was because it had always been my dream to play in the Premier League. From then on, I was really happy and felt so motivated. There were other clubs interested in me and rumours about some big teams, but Watford was the team that presented me with a plan and because of that I could see it was a serious offer. Even though I signed for Watford, I stayed with Fluminense for the time being and went on to score a hat-trick the first time I played in the starting XI. It was a Copa Sudamericana match against Atlético Nacional and that night was a blessed one. It was a night where my dreams came true. One of my goals was a bicycle kick and I did it all in front of the home fans. I will always remember that night. The beginning of my career showed me that nothing is impossible; that there are no limits.

When you go to a new country with a different language and different food you’re always going to be nervous, but then I told myself I had done things before that I didn’t think were possible and so I just wanted to give my best here, learn as much as possible and adapt as quick as possible. When I first arrived in December it was really, really cold and everything was so different to Rio – the houses, the people, everything totally different. The most tough thing was the food, and I only adjusted when my mother found a Brazilian shop so she could cook Brazilian food at home. Thankfully I have adapted quickly and I am so used to things now that when I go back to Brazil it’ll all seem different there. I moved over with my mother, my stepfather, my grandmother and my friend Ruan, but also Heurelho Gomes has really helped me out. We do a lot of things together, and people like Domingos Quina and Roberto Pereyra also help explain things to me when I don’t understand.

Not long after arriving I made my debut as a substitute in the cup game against Tranmere. I knew before the game that I was going to get my chance, and I was really happy to play in front of the fans. When I played some nice balls I could hear the crowd going ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’, which is completely different to what you hear in Brazil. I then made my first start in the replay and I remember the pitch there was really awful, but I just really wanted to play and make sure the team qualified for the next round. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I was really proud of myself because it had been a true battle to get to this stage of my career, and I had made it. Since that match I’ve been able to adapt to the speed of passing and improve my ball control and physical strength, which is definitely something you need to be successful here. I have been looking for ways to evolve quicker so that I can get the chance to play again.

While we were waiting for the league to recommence, the gaffer told me to start preparing myself because it was likely I was going to get my Premier League debut when we got back. Every day I was working hard so that I could be ready, and thankfully that day came against Southampton. At half-time, Gomes told me to pay close attention to the game because he thought I was going to come on soon, so I got myself ready and I really wanted to help the team because of the situation we were in. Obviously, it would have been better to have made my Premier League debut with the fans there, but it was still a great feeling. I’m really happy because it’s another childhood dream fulfilled. I was disappointed to lose the match, but I received a lot of messages from friends and family and I was happy. The more I play in this league, the more I will learn and the better I will become. Now I just want to give my best to make sure we get the points we need to stay in the Premier League.