Moura, Firmino, Sandro, Aurelio—Spurs and Liverpool's Mixed Brazilian Luck
Despite having to watch his children, Sandro Raniere couldn't keep his eyes off his mobile phone on a Wednesday night in early May.
The former Tottenham Hotspur defensive midfielder was staring in disbelief as he watched his old club fight back to beat Ajax.
The Brazilian favourite, currently plying his trade for Udinese in Italy's Serie A, was thrilled, especially for his longtime friend Lucas Moura.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Moura scored a sensational second-half hat-trick, with the last goal coming deep into stoppage time as Spurs fought back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Ajax on away goals and book their place in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final against Liverpool in Madrid.
"How do I begin? [sighs] Look, I'm a big fan of Lucas—what he did there was something divine, highly unlikely to happen in other circumstances," Sandro tells Bleacher Report.
"It has to be something divine because that was the kind of thing you may expect from guys like [Lionel] Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's best players, but not even them, under such pressure, could perhaps have done the same and scored three goals out of nowhere, in a single half, with the final goal coming in the dying minutes.
"I'm speaking as a fan, really, a fanatical fan of this side [laughs]. I was very happy for him [Lucas]. He deserves a lot; he's a wonderful person."
In a way, Sandro was partly responsible for one of the best nights in the Londoners' history.
After all, when Napoli, Real Betis and other sides were all circling, he was the one who encouraged Lucas to sign for Tottenham.
"We had played together for Brazil in the 2012 Olympics," Sandro explains.
"Then, one day, in the beginning of 2018, I think, my phone rang and it was Lucas on the other side. He said, 'What's up, Sandro?' Back then, I had no idea he was negotiating with Tottenham.
"He wanted to know what they were like and I told him my experience, 'It's a sensational team, you're going to love it. The guys will take your hand and help you with everything. They will make sure you feel at home from the moment you arrive. Not to mention their fans are fantastic, the stadium is always full, singing the whole game.'
"He was already half-convinced when we spoke. But I insisted that they were a perfect match for each other. I sleep every night knowing I did my part," Sandro laughs.
Lucas will certainly be forever grateful to Sandro for his advice.
Living with his family and his dog, Flash, in the borough of Barnet, outside central London, the Brazilian forward could not be more comfortable in his new home as he waits for his wife to give birth to their second child.
He is just a 20-minute drive away from Tottenham's Enfield training centre and he can often be found using the tube to get around London.
Whether he can continue to make trips like that in such anonymity remains to be seen after that night in Amsterdam made him an instant club legend.
After the final whistle, team-mate Christian Eriksen even joked on BT Sport that a statue should be built in North London to immortalise Lucas.
It also might lead to a new chapter for Brazilians inside Tottenham.
The club have long been regarded as a destination to be avoided by players from Brazil—such a reputation was built after Gilberto, Heurelho Gomes and Paulinho's frustrating experiences and the alleged lack of support for them. Sandro is possibly the only exception to the rule.
Past failures meant Spurs were deemed as a "cemetery" for talents in South America.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have never had such a problem, with Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson Becker further enhancing Brazil's reputation within Anfield this campaign.
The Reds have relied on the trio to sustain a successful record that also includes the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Leiva, but it started in 2006 when Fabio Aurelio arrived from Valencia.
"I'm 51 years old and I've always seen world-class Brazilian players. My father, for example, once told me that, 'Whatever papers say in the future, Pele is the best,'" Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said in a press conference prior to the clash against FC Porto at Estadio do Dragao in April.
"When I arrived, Lucas Leiva, Coutinho and Firmino were already around. We brought Fabinho and Alisson in because they are the best [in their position], not because they are Brazilians."
Klopp's band of Brazilians have instantly struck up a bond off the pitch this term, and, alongside Spanish left-back Alberto Moreno, they are always hanging out together with their families.
In some way, even those who have left Anfield to pursue better things elsewhere seem to remain part of the troop.
In November, when Brazil played Uruguay in a friendly in London, Lucas Leiva came from Rome to celebrate his wife's birthday in a Mayfair restaurant and was joined by Coutinho and his other half from Barcelona. Firmino also got together with them after the game. "From Liverpool to the rest of our lives," his wife Larissa Pereira wrote on social media.
In August, Bleacher Report outlined how the Brazilian football communities in the north-west and London have helped each other to settle. Firmino is often seen at a tiny Brazilian grocery store near Manchester, where he buys in bulk.
Aurelio, the first Brazilian to sign with the Merseyside club, still owns a house near Sefton Park and rents it through a management company. Among his tenants since moving back home was Coutinho.
"He didn't give me any problem," Aurelio chuckles in an interview with B/R.
Having already worked with Rafa Benitez at Valencia, it made things easier for him, even if not everything went entirely smoothly.
"I had played for six years at Valencia, so I could speak Spanish pretty well, but I didn't know a single word in English," Aurelio recalls to B/R.
"In the beginning, that wasn't an issue as I knew the coaching team, some of the players: Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia. They all helped me adapt to the club, but at the same time I found myself speaking more Spanish than English. It obviously wasn't a positive thing.
"But Liverpool made sure I had a teacher from Dublin to learn some English. A short time after our first classes, I was already able to understand him and was getting confident about the language."
Despite that improvement, though, Aurelio did recall one difficult moment at a McDonald's drive-through.
"In Brazil, we are much more familiar with the American accent. But that was not an issue—I could understand people from London, for example—the biggest problem was dealing with the Liverpool accent," he laughs.
"That night, at McDonald's, I was just trying to order a water. However, no matter how hard my wife and I tried, the attendant couldn't get it. We repeated it in every single possible way, pronouncing it like this, like that, trust me—it took her a few minutes to understand us."
Despite that frustrating, if funny experience, it was pretty much the worst Aurelio had to cope with while settling into English life. He had less luck with injuries throughout a six-season spell with the Reds but still managed to make 134 appearances for the club.
In stark contrast, his compatriot Gilberto encountered nothing but problems after he arrived at Tottenham as their first-ever Brazilian player in 2008.
As Gilberto was unveiled, expectations were high at White Hart Lane. Gilberto was brought by then Spurs manager Juande Ramos to fill the gap at left-back following injuries to Gareth Bale and Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
However, instead of flourishing in the Premier League, he had a nightmare time in London.
"When I moved to Tottenham in January, I was in a very good moment in my career, had always dreamed about playing in the Premier League, but I cannot say that 'I came, saw and conquered' there," Gilberto tells B/R.
"A while after arriving, Juande confessed how he decided to go after me. With Bale and Ekotto out, he was short of options at left-back and had tried to sign Adriano from Sevilla but couldn't reach a deal. He asked himself, 'Who do I bring in?' And he noticed that I was always being called up to the Brazil squad alongside Adriano. He then inquired about me, liked what he saw and made an offer to Hertha Berlin."
However, issues with fitness and form dogged Gilberto from day one. He was left out until March because of a lack of match fitness and then made a crucial error on his debut in the UEFA Cup against PSV, losing possession on the edge of his own penalty area to allow Jefferson Farfan to score the game's only goal.
"I left the pitch during half-time (of the PSV game) with some pain in the calf area. But I had treatment and was able to feature again the next Saturday, scoring versus West Ham in the Premier League. I thought to myself, 'Now everyone will realise I have some potential.'
"However, after that win, the pain came back, my leg was still feeling very heavy, so I asked not to play the second leg against PSV. We beat them but were knocked out on penalties. From that night on, any confidence I still had was gone. I felt like everyone was looking at me cross-eyed and saying, 'If it wasn't for this guy, we would have gone through.'
"It wasn't a nice work environment for me. I remember Gomes trying to cheer me up, but obviously, as a professional, those things make you sad.
"In the following pre-season, I worked hard, did my best to prove I was a much better player, but there was no way I could change their first impressions. I usually say that, in football, 90 percent of it is confidence—if you don't have it, you're done."
After a decade, Gilberto still can't forget a headline that claimed, "Brazil finally produce rubbish footballer."
"I remember people saying I was Tottenham's worst signing ever, but 18 months later, I was representing my country in a World Cup. How could I be that bad? Of course, I accept the criticism—after all, I indeed wasn't in my best form, physically and technically speaking—but I don't find that headline fair."
Gilberto would only go on to make 10 appearances for Tottenham during a 13-month spell before returning to Brazil.
"When Juande was around, it was easier for me. Gus Poyet also helped me a lot. I could speak some German after four years in Berlin, but no English. Besides Gomes, [Jonathan] Woodgate was also very nice to me, probably because he had gone through the same at Real Madrid and knew what it's like.
"Perhaps the only one who disappointed me was [Harry] Redknapp—when he took over as head coach, he said some rough things about me, but, in the end, it was a learning experience for me."
Nicknamed "The Beast" because of his tough tackling, Sandro became a cult hero for Tottenham fans after a quiet start to life in London. Despite some issues with injuries, he went on to play almost 100 games for the club between 2010-2014 before continuing his career in England with Queen's Park Rangers and then briefly with West Bromwich Albion.
The defensive midfielder believes it's a mere coincidence that other Brazilians struggled to adapt to the club, even though he went through a situation with Redknapp that now makes him smile.
"At the team, I had a guy translating everything into Portuguese to me wherever I went. He was by my side when Harry called me one morning for a meeting and went on explaining that I wouldn't be part of the squad for a Champions League game against Werder Bremen in Germany. Since I had just arrived, I was told I needed to wait for my turn."
"I understood everything he told me—it was alright for me.
"But later that day, the translator guy came to me and said I should head to the match and watch it from the stands, mingle with the group, it would be a positive thing. At first, it seemed a bit awkward. But OK, if Harry changed his mind, better for me.
"The following day, I was the first player to arrive at the airport. After a while there, everyone started staring at me, 'What are you doing here?' I instantly blamed the translator. It was nice to get to know Stansted departure area, though," he laughs as he remembers.
Regardless of what happened in the past, when Spurs fly to Madrid, they will make sure no one is left behind this time, especially, Lucas Moura.
The Brazilian hat-trick hero will be looking to clutch another match ball and take it home with him after the final whistle at Wanda Metropolitano stadium on June 1.
On the other side, Alisson, Firmino, Fabinho will be hoping that they can bring Champions League medals back with them the next time they return to Brazil.
Either way, the reputation of Brazilians at both clubs has never been higher thanks to their representatives and those who helped pave the way.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
