Raphinha opens up on poverty, crime and his journey to Barcelona stardom | OneFootball

Since the arrival of Hansi Flick on the FC Barcelona bench, the Brazilian forward Raphinha has taken a step up in his game and has turned out to be one of the very best footballers in the entire world. In the last two seasons, he formed a key part of the Blaugrana attacking line along with Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, and this season, he is playing a different role for the team, that of a center-forward.

The forward is currently going through the best period of his playing career, but things have not always been easy for him. As SPORT has reported, the Barcelona star appeared in an interview with UOL Esporte and revealed some of the very tough periods he had to go through during his childhood and adolescence, before becoming the global star that he is today.

Although he made it clear that his house never lacked food, he still mentioned how he had to struggle for sustenance at some points in his life:

“After training, I would stop people on the street and ask them to buy me something to eat. Some people helped me, while others would bluntly call me a homeless person.”

The forward also mentioned how easily he could have turned deviant, but remained focused on becoming a footballer:

“For someone born in a neighborhood like mine, it’s difficult to stay focused… I lost many friends to crime… friends who played ten times better than me… I never went astray. I walked alongside people who were losing their way.”

Not losing his way was what ultimately matters for Raphinha:

The Brazilian mentioned music as something he finds particularly helpful:

“It’s my relaxing medicine. It accompanies me before training and before matches.”

The forward also mentioned his family as a key contributor to his success:

“It was thanks to my family that I never dropped out of school and ignored the opportunities to take the wrong path.”

Furthermore, Raphinha was also clear about how he had always dreamed of playing for Barcelona:

“My idols played for Barcelona. I dreamed of coming here and spared no effort to make it happen.”

It is really heartening to see an individual overcome such adversity to enjoy as much success as Raphinha has enjoyed in his career. Hopefully, he will continue to shine for Barcelona in this new season as well, in which he is expected to play a different but equally important role, as he has done in the last few seasons.