Felipe Simas reveals how Flamengo youth setback shaped his television career | OneFootball

Felipe Simas says a chastening youth game against Flamengo at Gávea ended his football dream and set him on the road to television.

The actor came through Nova Iguaçu’s ranks and wanted midfield, despite his brother urging a switch to left-back. “My brother always told me to play left-back, but I dreamed of being a midfielder. I faced Rafinha, their winger at the time, and he ran rings round me,” he told Flamengo TV.

“I was already rehearsing a play. After leaving Gávea on Friday, playing against Rafinha on Saturday and mourning on Sunday, on Monday I told the coach, ‘I cannot do this any more’.”

Rafinha was tipped at Flamengo and made the 2013 Copa do Brasil winning squad. After early flashes he went out on a string of loans and is now with Jacareí-FC in São Paulo state.

A devoted Flamengo fan, Simas built a TV career with roles on TV Globo’s Flor do Caribe and Totalmente Demais, and he portrayed Garrincha. “It was on the Pelé film. Most actors on set were frustrated footballers, and when we shot the world champions scene everyone cried, thinking of childhood dreams.”

His brother, actor Bruno Gissoni, who took part in the interview, recalled the 2019 Libertadores final at Estadio Monumental in Peru. “It was hard. I had never sworn at anyone like I swore at Gabigol in that game. He was struggling, then he scores two and is eternalised, it was pure film script.”

Source: Coluna Do Fla

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”