Luiz Gustavo: Playing football is a privilege, fun comes second | OneFootball

Crowned with the second goal of São Paulo's 2-0 victory over Vasco on Sunday night (2), in the 31st round of the Brasileirão, midfielder Luiz Gustavo gave a true lesson in life and overcoming challenges as he spoke about his views on football.

The veteran from Tricolor went through a major personal drama this season when he was sidelined for a long time after suffering from pulmonary thromboembolism, which struck him but did not bring him down.

At 38 years old, Luiz Gustavo recovered and returned to play for São Paulo, for which he expressed immense gratitude in an interview after the triumph in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

“I think the word of the day is gratitude, I am very grateful for my life, I am very grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to do what I love most, and every day when I train, when I play, when I am with any younger player, I try to convey to them the opportunity they have to be a football player,” he said to CazéTV.

“It is a privilege to achieve everything so quickly with football, and many times we let opportunities slip through our fingers. Out of vanity, for wanting fame, for wanting to go out, for wanting to enjoy and forgetting the most important thing, which is work. In football, you have to give a lot to it, the more you work, the more it will give back to you. And the balance cannot be leisure, pleasure, and then football; it has to be work, football, concentration, and then leisure,” emphasized the midfielder.

“So, I have done this my whole life. I think the older I get, I joke, when it's tough, when I'm tired, I say, hey, I never neglected you, body, and today I need you, help me,” said the Tricolor player, who continued.

“And in these difficult moments, it has always helped me, with all my faith in God, because without Him, I think I wouldn't be here, for the opportunity to live, for the opportunity to do what I love, for my family, for everything I have been personally achieving, not professionally, I think the personal side is worth much more, I think when I retire, people will remember Luiz Gustavo more as a person than as a professional.”

“And that is what will give me pleasure and pride for having done everything my mother told me, my father taught me, my grandmother taught me, which is to have education, respect for others, and to be a humble person at all times and enjoy.”

“I want to enjoy as much as I can, thank you God, thank you my family, all my friends who have been by my side. And I think that's it, today's result is a consequence of everything we have been doing, everyone has worked very hard, so we have earned it, we went through difficult situations. Now we have goals to achieve until the end of the season, and we will go game by game after that,” concluded the experienced São Paulo midfielder.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.