Marcelo: "When I signed for Madrid I thought I was only there for a meeting..."
The Real Madrid defender related various anecdotes about his past, and admitted that he didn't know what the Champions League was until he was 16 years old.
Real Madrid left-back Marcelo gave a fascinating insight into his past in an interview with The Players' Tribune this week - for example, how he painted a mural of Ronaldo when he was just six years old or when he flew over to Madrid thinking he was going for a meeting but ended up signing for the Spanish club and being officialy unveiled.
Brazil and Tite's influence
Marcelo is delighted that Tite is in charge of the Canarinha and is confident that the team can triumph at 2018 World Cup Russia: "Tite is a phenomenal person, with him I truly believe we can bring the Brazilian flag back to the highest level".
He explained that during his 10 years with the national team, no other coach has called him personally by phone to tell him he is in the squad: "It was the first time I ever got a call from a national team manager, and I’ve been in the national team for 11 years. I would kill for Tite, and I’m going to do everything I can do to put a little gold trophy in my grandfather’s cabinet".
Marcelo told a story of when he was a six-year-old in Rio de Janeiro and helped to paint a mural of Ronaldo before the 1994 World Cup: "In Brazil, right before the World Cup begins, everybody in the neighborhood goes outside in the streets and paints murals to celebrate. Everything gets covered in green, blue and yellow — the streets, the fences, the walls, people’s faces. This is such a special memory for every little kid in Brazil".
The Champions League? What's that?
Marcelo has lifted the Champions League three times with Madrid but there was a time when he hadn't even heard of it: "Until I was 16 years old, I didn’t even know there was a Champions League. I remember the moment exactly — I was sitting in the team room in Xerém, and some of the guys were watching a match on TV. It was Porto and Monaco. But the game actually lookeddifferent", he explained. "This game looked like it was being broadcast from some other planet that I didn’t know about. I was like, “Hey, what the hell is this league? And my friend says, “It's the Champions League.”
Joining Madrid aged 18
He also described the moment he signed for Real Madrid as a teenager in November 2006: "One day, I got a call from an agent. He said, “Do you want to go to Real Madrid? Then I’m on a plane to Madrid. Remember, I had just turned 18. I swear to God that I thought I was just going there for a chat. When I arrived to meet with the club, I saw the contract on the table, with the Real Madrid crest on it and everything — and I signed it. They unveiled me to the media that day. I had no idea. My own family back in Brazil told me that they didn’t believe it was real until they saw the news on Globo Esporte".
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