Tiago Manuel Dias Correia - Bebe

[panopticum]

Cytat:The car park of the Estadio Jose Gomes in the poor Reboleira suburb of Lisbon is littered with used condoms and drugs paraphernalia. Inside the tiny, rundown ground, weeds poke through the tarmac. This is where, just four months ago, the young forward they call Bebe played his last competitive game of football for Estrela da Amadora.

He walked out five games before the end of last season because the club — now about to go bankrupt — could not afford to pay his 300-euro weekly wage. Jorge Paxaio was Estrela’s coach last season. He learned of Bebe’s transfer to England early last month when the forward sent him a ‘thank you’ text message.

‘Manchester United are getting a truly remarkable kid,’ said the likeable Paxaio, smiling as he spoke to Sportsmail. ‘Remember that until he was 16 he was just playing with his friends. He has developed incredibly quickly. The first time he plays for United — and I am sure he will make it there — people will notice him because he is different. He has skills that not many players in that League have.

‘He is also physically imposing. He will be like [Cristiano] Ronaldo in that point of view. But you will have to wait for him to be ready. I don’t just mean in football terms, but mentally.

‘One day he had nothing and then the next day he had everything. That will be a shock to him, even if he hasn’t realised it yet. He was living in the shelter every day he was with us. He travelled in by public transport. He was like a child in that way.’

Kolejny tekst o Bebe