[article=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2613491/Philippe-Coutinho-never-stops-dreaming-winning-title-Liverpool-lifting-World-Cup-Brazil.html#ixzz302vfdEyo ]Everywhere you look at Liverpool games these days there’s a banner saying ‘Make Us Dream’ in reference to a first league title in 24 years that is inching ever nearer.
There’s a similar sentiment on show, but you’s have to look a little closer to read it. Philippe Coutinho’s left forearm bears the inscription: ‘Never Stop Dreaming’.
‘There’s a famous saying in my country, “O Brasileiro Nao Desiste Nunca”, which means Brazilians never give up,’ said the Liverpool midfielder.
‘It is a sentence I like and a view I take for life. But it fits with Liverpool and the current situation we are in so that makes it even better.
‘I started having the tattoo done at the beginning of the season and it was finished bit by bit. As players, we need to keep dreaming if we want to reach the objectives we have in mind.
‘The players know how important these remaining games are, and we will fight and do our best on the pitch to make winning the League happen.
‘It is a very special moment, with Liverpool going for the title and my country staging the World Cup. Don’t forget the saying “Brazilians never lose hope” — I still hope to play for Brazil at the World Cup. This could be a very special two months.’
While the first part of this double will be a near-certainty if Liverpool beat Chelsea at Anfield tomorrow, the second is looking less sure.
Remarkably, one of the Barclays Premier League’s most naturally gifted players has just one Brazil cap — a friendly against Iran four years ago — and has been consistently overlooked by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
There was little sign of Scolari’s stance changing when he gave a lecture to Sao Paulo University students on Thursday and told them David Luiz, Ramires, Oscar, Willian, Paulinho, Thiago Silva, Fred and Julio Cesar could all count on places in his squad.
He claimed he had already decided on ‘95-99 per cent’ of his final selection and added, ominously for outsiders like Coutinho, that there would be ‘no surprises’.
If a sense of injustice at his likely World Cup snub spreads from the Kop to the Copacabana there is little chance of 21-year-old Coutinho being consumed by resentment.
His Christian faith keeps him strong at all times, and he insists he has a lot to be thankful for, after his friend’s gran opened his parents’ eyes to the innate talent that has lit up English football this season. Coutinho’s liking for football went largely unnoticed at the family home on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. His architect dad, Jose Carlos, expected son No 3 would follow the same scholarly path as his siblings who became lawyers.
But it was a lady called Dona Didi who recognised that her six-year-old grandson’s best pal had something special with a ball at his feet.
After watching one game on the futsal (five-a-side) court at the back of her apartment block in Rocha, in northern Rio, she accompanied Philippe back to his parents’ home and told them he was cut out for an altogether different career than brothers Leandro and Cristiano.
Acting on her advice, Jose Carlos and his wife Esmeraldinha enrolled him at the local Clube dos Sargentos futsal school, where he broke a series of goal records before joining the larger Mangueira club. There, despite being the youngest in the team, he won the Rio de Janeiro Futsal League and was their leading marksman.
Aged eight he moved on to Vasco da Gama, where a few years later he shot to national prominence by helping the club lift the Brazilian FA Under 17 Cup for the first time. Spotted by Inter Milan when he was 16, he stayed on loan with his Brazilian club until he was 18.
There have been some inspired signings at Anfield lately, not least Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, but the £8.5million Liverpool paid Inter Milan 15 months ago for Coutinho looks unbeatable value for money after his impact in an advanced midfield role.
His dramatic late winner against Manchester City a fortnight ago, which left Liverpool on the brink of the title, was further evidence of his vital role in Brendan Rodgers’ side.
And Coutinho is fully aware that his upbringing in Brazil was fundamental to his development.
‘I was only six but by playing on tight futsal courts in Rio I was able to develop the technical ability that has made me the player I am today,’ explained Coutinho, who could speak no English when he arrived from Italy.
‘It is a small area, so you have to be highly technical. This is where I learned my skills and I will always be grateful for that.
‘It meant when I progressed to a proper full-sized football pitch at Vasco at the age of 11, I felt comfortable on the ball and confident about trying to go past defenders and make things happen.
‘But moving to Europe has added an extra dimension to my game. At Inter, Rafa Benitez changed my mentality. He made me more of a team player and encouraged me to move the ball more quickly and get more involved. Now, with Liverpool, I am moving faster still and thinking even more quickly. It just felt right for me here from the outset.
‘The team have been playing with a great deal of freedom in attack and that has helped me adapt so easily. It also helped to move into Fabio Aurelio’s old house, opposite Sefton Park, with my wife Aine, my brothers and our two dogs, Will and Mell.
‘I have visited the docks a few times and been to one or two restaurants, but I’m not a nightclub-goer and I don’t drink alcohol. I pursue happiness through other avenues, like having God in my life.’
But the virtuous Coutinho also has a mischievous streak. He marked his first training session at Inter by nutmegging Marco Materazzi and leaving the giant former Everton defender flat on his back.
‘When I got back into the dressing room, the masseur said he would buy me snacks for the rest of the week if I did it again,’ he recalled.
‘Materazzi told me he would put me in hospital. He wasn’t impressed.’
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There’s a similar sentiment on show, but you’s have to look a little closer to read it. Philippe Coutinho’s left forearm bears the inscription: ‘Never Stop Dreaming’.
‘There’s a famous saying in my country, “O Brasileiro Nao Desiste Nunca”, which means Brazilians never give up,’ said the Liverpool midfielder.
‘It is a sentence I like and a view I take for life. But it fits with Liverpool and the current situation we are in so that makes it even better.
‘I started having the tattoo done at the beginning of the season and it was finished bit by bit. As players, we need to keep dreaming if we want to reach the objectives we have in mind.
‘The players know how important these remaining games are, and we will fight and do our best on the pitch to make winning the League happen.
‘It is a very special moment, with Liverpool going for the title and my country staging the World Cup. Don’t forget the saying “Brazilians never lose hope” — I still hope to play for Brazil at the World Cup. This could be a very special two months.’
While the first part of this double will be a near-certainty if Liverpool beat Chelsea at Anfield tomorrow, the second is looking less sure.
Remarkably, one of the Barclays Premier League’s most naturally gifted players has just one Brazil cap — a friendly against Iran four years ago — and has been consistently overlooked by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
There was little sign of Scolari’s stance changing when he gave a lecture to Sao Paulo University students on Thursday and told them David Luiz, Ramires, Oscar, Willian, Paulinho, Thiago Silva, Fred and Julio Cesar could all count on places in his squad.
He claimed he had already decided on ‘95-99 per cent’ of his final selection and added, ominously for outsiders like Coutinho, that there would be ‘no surprises’.
If a sense of injustice at his likely World Cup snub spreads from the Kop to the Copacabana there is little chance of 21-year-old Coutinho being consumed by resentment.
His Christian faith keeps him strong at all times, and he insists he has a lot to be thankful for, after his friend’s gran opened his parents’ eyes to the innate talent that has lit up English football this season. Coutinho’s liking for football went largely unnoticed at the family home on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. His architect dad, Jose Carlos, expected son No 3 would follow the same scholarly path as his siblings who became lawyers.
But it was a lady called Dona Didi who recognised that her six-year-old grandson’s best pal had something special with a ball at his feet.
After watching one game on the futsal (five-a-side) court at the back of her apartment block in Rocha, in northern Rio, she accompanied Philippe back to his parents’ home and told them he was cut out for an altogether different career than brothers Leandro and Cristiano.
Acting on her advice, Jose Carlos and his wife Esmeraldinha enrolled him at the local Clube dos Sargentos futsal school, where he broke a series of goal records before joining the larger Mangueira club. There, despite being the youngest in the team, he won the Rio de Janeiro Futsal League and was their leading marksman.
Aged eight he moved on to Vasco da Gama, where a few years later he shot to national prominence by helping the club lift the Brazilian FA Under 17 Cup for the first time. Spotted by Inter Milan when he was 16, he stayed on loan with his Brazilian club until he was 18.
There have been some inspired signings at Anfield lately, not least Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, but the £8.5million Liverpool paid Inter Milan 15 months ago for Coutinho looks unbeatable value for money after his impact in an advanced midfield role.
His dramatic late winner against Manchester City a fortnight ago, which left Liverpool on the brink of the title, was further evidence of his vital role in Brendan Rodgers’ side.
And Coutinho is fully aware that his upbringing in Brazil was fundamental to his development.
‘I was only six but by playing on tight futsal courts in Rio I was able to develop the technical ability that has made me the player I am today,’ explained Coutinho, who could speak no English when he arrived from Italy.
‘It is a small area, so you have to be highly technical. This is where I learned my skills and I will always be grateful for that.
‘It meant when I progressed to a proper full-sized football pitch at Vasco at the age of 11, I felt comfortable on the ball and confident about trying to go past defenders and make things happen.
‘But moving to Europe has added an extra dimension to my game. At Inter, Rafa Benitez changed my mentality. He made me more of a team player and encouraged me to move the ball more quickly and get more involved. Now, with Liverpool, I am moving faster still and thinking even more quickly. It just felt right for me here from the outset.
‘The team have been playing with a great deal of freedom in attack and that has helped me adapt so easily. It also helped to move into Fabio Aurelio’s old house, opposite Sefton Park, with my wife Aine, my brothers and our two dogs, Will and Mell.
‘I have visited the docks a few times and been to one or two restaurants, but I’m not a nightclub-goer and I don’t drink alcohol. I pursue happiness through other avenues, like having God in my life.’
But the virtuous Coutinho also has a mischievous streak. He marked his first training session at Inter by nutmegging Marco Materazzi and leaving the giant former Everton defender flat on his back.
‘When I got back into the dressing room, the masseur said he would buy me snacks for the rest of the week if I did it again,’ he recalled.
‘Materazzi told me he would put me in hospital. He wasn’t impressed.’
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