Beşiktaş's star talked about the difficult days: "We experienced hunger and misery"

Beşiktaş's Brazilian footballer Gabriel Paulista spoke ambitiously about the new season and said that they have no other option than success.

The 34-year-old stopper, who is in his second season with the black and white team, made statements to the Anadolu Agency reporter about last year, his childhood in his country and his goals. Stating that they want to be successful as a team in the new season, Paulista said, "We are a group of players who want to win. We will have a competitive and difficult season ahead of us. We have understood better over time what Beşiktaş fans mean. Beşiktaş competes for both its fans and victories. This passion is similar to teams in Brazil. There are many similarities. They should expect a competitive team and a winning team from us this year."

"THIS YEAR WILL BE A DIFFERENT SEASON"

The experienced football player stated that they learned lessons from last year so that everything would be different in the new season. Emphasizing that they had problems replacing missing players in the last season, Paulista said, "Last year, we started the season strong both physically and technically. There was a winning team. Afterwards, things did not go as they did at the beginning of the season. What we need to carry from last season to this year is what we learned and experienced... We need to take the positives and learn from the negatives and learn lessons to get better. This year will be a different season." He expressed his opinion as follows. Underlining that he is happy in the black and white team, the "Sambacı" shared the following views: "My family is also very happy here. It is not easy to adapt to a place you have just come to as a family, but my family has adapted now. The love the fans have shown me makes me very happy. I try to reciprocate this love on the field. I try to give an image of playing with passion and sweating until the last moment. There are two more years left on my contract. I am trying to do my best. I hope I will perform better. We cannot know the future. It may be two seasons, it will be different or it may be one more year. We cannot know these. I cannot say anything about whether I will finish my career here or not. My only focus is to do better. All I want is to fight for victories." The Brazilian player, who drew attention to the fact that there are more young players in the team this year compared to last season, said, "Our technical director gives more opportunities to the young people. They need to take advantage of this opportunity. It is important to balance both experience and youth in clubs. What I learned in football: Experienced names He said, "He needs to pass on his experiences to the young players. I have learned a lot from great footballers. I have carried this experience to my present day. My goal is to reflect the experience I have to the young players in every training session or match. Even if they get a minute, they need to take advantage of this opportunity. There are players in our club with great potential who will play in good places."

"I EXPERIENCED POVERTY AND VIOLENCE"

Paulista explained that he had a hard time with his family in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during his childhood. The experienced football player, who said that he was grateful for being able to change his family's life, noted the following: "My family went through very difficult times. They went through difficult times. They experienced hunger, misery and even times when they had difficulty finding a place to live and a roof over their heads. This had an impact on my life. I started playing football completely because of my passion for football. I also set my mind on becoming a football player. I wanted to change my family's fate and our lives. I think I was able to do this. I am grateful for this. Thankfully, I have this life, I am healthy. I was able to change their lives in a positive way. Sao Paulo is a city similar to Istanbul in terms of size and population. I experienced poverty and violence in Sao Paulo. I grew up in this world. I experienced and achieved everything I dreamed of in football. I reflected these on my own mother and father and my family."

"CHILDREN FROM POOR NEIGHBORHOODS DON'T HAVE MANY CHOICES"

Gabriel Paulista emphasized that there are not many options for people living in Brazil's "favelas." When asked "What would Gabriel be if he were not a football player?", the experienced defender gave the following answer: "There are not many options for us Brazilians, people who come from the poor neighborhoods we call favelas. However, I would like to be a doctor. I could have done something else, but my focus was always on being a football player. Children from poor neighborhoods do not have many options." Paulista, who also explained his passion for football, said, "When I look back at the problems I had with my family, my mother and father in my life story, I see that everything I have gained has actually been gained from football. That is why I am so passionate about football. The reason I love this game so much is the passion that comes from these hardships I have experienced. The reason for my tears is because of the hardships we experienced back then. Today, my tears flow for different reasons from time to time. Life is better for me now."

The experienced player, who stated that different problems are encountered in life, said, "The current problems are nothing compared to the past. When it comes to those emotional moments we experienced in the Galatasaray match, it was my first 90 minutes after a long injury and we had experienced an important derby victory. At that moment, the process before the match passed before my eyes like a film strip. Sometimes you even hear things like "He can't do it, he won't be able to do it" from people. Such things happen. My family was always by my side. My teammates were always by my side and helped me. Our club employees supported us. We won a very emotional match against Galatasaray."