Lucas Moura: “I spent the worst six months of my career in Paris”

Lucas Moura burst into professional football at the age of 17 and, since then, he has accumulated experiences wherever he has played. In a letter entitled “The moments that I will never forget”, published on the portal The Players’ Tribune, the Brazilian has reviewed his sports career, since his father said “I don’t think they realize that our son has the talent to become a professional footballer” until the goal that qualified Spurs for their first Champions League final.

The now Tottenham footballer joined the São Paulo quarry at the age of 13, where he admits that he cried “for a week because I missed my parents so much.” A club that, despite a difficult start, is everything for Lucas Moura. “It is the club of my heart, the club of my life. I carry it with me everywhere”says the Brazilian. An unconditional love for the São Paulo team that even led him to think that “if I have to break my contract with PSG to win something here, I will.”

Although luckily for Lucas Moura, everything went well. First, proclaiming himself champion of the South American Cup in 2012 and, later, becoming, at the age of 20, a player for Paris Saint-Germain. Although Lucas Moura ended up playing five and a half seasons in the Parisian squad before joining Tottenham, the Brazilian attacker could have reached the Premier League much earlier. “In the summer of 2012 I was about to sign for Manchester Unitedbut at the last minute Leonardo (sports director) called me and convinced me to join PSG. They had Ibra and many Brazilians, like Thiago Silva, Alex, Maxwell and Thiago Motta. Also, I had been to Manchester, and it was very cold. So let’s say Paris, for a Brazilian, was more tempting “, Account in The Players’ Tribune. Another Brazilian with whom Moura barely shared a dressing room at Paris-Saint Germain on two occasions but did so more regularly on the national team was Neymar, whom he describes as “an amazing guy with a huge heart. He is one of the biggest stars in the world, but go to his house for dinner and he will treat you like a prince. “

Paris, one of lime and another of sand

Upon his arrival in Paris, Lucas Moura found himself a team full of stars. In particular, he spoke of David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “I am very happy to tell my children that I have played with David Beckham. I was surprised the first time I met him and Ibra. “Moura admits that both former teammates could be arrogant because they are so good,” but then you realize that they are very hardworking and humble people. “

Also, with Paris Saint-Germain, Lucas Moura went on to win 5 league championships, 3 French Cups, 5 League Cups and 5 French Super Cups. However, as the footballer himself admits, in Paris “it seemed that I had everything (a great club, money and fame), but I had a great emptiness within me and I missed my country a lot”. 46 goals and 48 assists are the numbers that Lucas Moura ended up registering in the 229 games he wore the PSG shirt, but “going there at the age of 20 was a shock”says Moura. “The culture, the climate, the tactics, everything was different. I felt enormous pressure to perform. Then the injuries came and I started to miss Brazil. I started thinking: was I right to come here?” Before heading to London for the winter market for the 2017/2018 season, Lucas Moura writes in The Players’ Tribune that “the last six months at PSG were the most difficult of my career, without a doubt. The previous season I had scored 19 goals, and then Neymar and Mbappé arrived. I thought I could play alongside them, but I wasn’t even on the squad for the games. “.

“One goal, guys. One goal and we’re back in the game”

Already at Tottenham, where he has played for three and a half seasons, the 29-year-old footballer has experienced one of the most important moments of his career. “I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the last goal. It has like 750,000 views on the Spurs YouTube account, and 100,000 of them are probably mine.. And it was then that I realized that all these moments had led me to this miracle in Amsterdam “, says Lucas Moura about the last of the three goals he scored against Ajax in the 2018/2019 Champions League semi-finals and certified the pass of the Spurs to his first final of the maximum continental competition.

“Once we survived the draw with City, I was convinced that we would reach the final. But Ajax was the sensation of the tournament, and we lost 1-0 at home,” says Moura after leaving Pep Guardiola’s team on the road. after another historic second leg. Minute 35 of the second game against the Dutch and Tottenham lost 0-3 on aggregate. “We were finished. Let’s toast,” thought the Brazilian.. But I don’t know why, I kept believing it was possible. Pochettino told us: “One goal, guys. One goal and we’ll be back in the game.” And the goal, finally, was his. This is how Lucas Moura explains in his letter what he felt when he scored the final goal in 96 ‘: “You can’t think clearly at a time like this. There is an explosion of emotions within you that you don’t know how to handle. I didn’t know how to celebrate. When the game ended, I threw myself on the ground and cried. I thanked God. I felt a huge sense of gratitude, as if I had received a huge gift. They all came over and hugged me. Inexplicable. Seriously, I don’t know how it happened. “

“It was impossible to sleep that night. Impossible. My mind went back to those six months at PSG “Moura admits. As it was also difficult to fall asleep after falling at the Wanda Metropolitano 0-2 against Liverpool: “Staying on the bench for the Champions League final was like cold water being thrown on my neck”. After 24 minutes on the field of play, the first final of the Champions League resisted the SpursBut the Brazilian still aims to achieve something with Tottenham: “What’s next? My goal is to return to the national team, because I would love to play the World Cup. Also, I really want to win a trophy with the Spurs“.