{"id":733641,"date":"2026-06-13T08:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/733641\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:34:08","slug":"injury-deprived-me-of-chance-to-play-so-i-am-going-to-the-world-cup-to-support-brazil-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/733641\/","title":{"rendered":"Injury deprived me of chance to play so I am going to the World Cup to support Brazil | Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am travelling to the United States this week to watch some of the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o\u2019s games at the World Cup<\/a>. I\u2019ll be continuing my daily treatment to recover from the knee injury I suffered in March and, during this routine, I\u2019ll try to experience the competition in a different way. While Rodrygo, a boy from Osasco [a city in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo], recognises the privilege this represents, Rodrygo the player, who took part in the entire qualifying cycle, the Copa Am\u00e9rica and other matches, has feelings that are difficult to explain.<\/p>\n

Ever since our last World Cup game in 2022, when the Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved my penalty and we were eliminated at the quarter-final stage<\/a>, returning to the tournament wearing the national team jersey has been a desire that has dominated my thoughts on many nights.<\/p>\n

The path we have gone down in these past four years has not been easy. All of us \u2013 players, coaches, staff, CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) employees, and, of course, the fans \u2013 have faced numerous challenges. So to suffer an injury that ruled me out of the tournament just months before the squad was announced was a huge blow, taking away from me a dream to which I have dedicated my life.<\/p>\n

Croatia\u2019s Dominik Livakovic saves Rodrygo\u2019s penalty in 2022 to send Brazil out of the 2022 World Cup. Photograph: Matthew Childs\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The injury \u2013 and learning the extent of it through the scans \u2013 brought immense sadness. The week of the actual surgery brought me suffering, sleepless nights, a lot of pain and the urge to vomit and faint. But soon an inner strength came, a certainty that life goes on and that I will recover and continue pursuing my World Cup dream.<\/p>\n

Also, one of the worst days of my life transformed into a huge wave of support from so many people. My faith strengthened me too, as did the unconditional presence of my family and the countless messages and conversations with important people in my life. There was incredible support from Real Madrid, calls from the CBF, the national team staff and the players. I am certain I will return stronger, dedicating myself as I have always done to achieve my goals.<\/p>\n

Being unable to play during the final part of Real Madrid\u2019s season and not taking part at the World Cup with the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o is a feeling impossible to explain. Watching Real Madrid\u2019s crucial matches on TV without being able to step on to the pitch and give my all for the club left a bitter taste. And watching the World Cup squad announcement without the expectation of hearing my name called by Carlo Ancelotti<\/a> was tough.<\/p>\n

Rodrygo played a big part in Brazil\u2019s progress to the World Cup during qualifiers. Photograph: Silvia Izquierdo\/AP<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the joy I have felt wearing the Real Madrid and Brazil shirts is also pretty impossible to put into words. Even with this setback, I believe I still have incredible experiences ahead of me and that I once again can bring joy to those who support me, whether that is for club or country. I am only 25 years old and still have many important dreams to pursue. And I know that, to do that, I need to be strong, as I\u2019ve always been in other decisive moments of my life.<\/p>\n

The Sele\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira is synonymous with pride. I feel proud to be Brazilian and to always support a team that represents our culture as something beautiful, magical, joyful, united and hardworking. Wearing the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira shirt is a sensation that is difficult to describe.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pride that comes from the boy in Osasco who wore a replica jersey and dreamed of being a professional player. And a dream, when lived in reality, ends up being shared with everyone who is part of my life and who likes me: family, friends, the team around me, fans and teammates.<\/p>\n

My first national team game in a stadium was as a fan, Brazil beating Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier at the Arena Corinthians on 28 March 2017 (goals by Neymar, Coutinho and Marcelo). Previously, we hadn\u2019t been able to afford to go to a national team game. I went with my father and the atmosphere was so special, a different energy, with all the club fans cheering for the same team. It\u2019s a moment when we all share the same colours.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s record five World Cup wins is a source of great pride for the country\u2019s football fans. Photograph: Rebekah Wynkoop\/SPP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

When the time came for me to wear the shirt, I could feel the affection of the fans \u2013 and that made me go back in time and remember the sensations I had felt when I watched the team on TV. We always want to see the national team win titles, but I realised that the people\u2019s love for the team doesn\u2019t depend only on that. People want to be a part of it, to receive a wave, a photo, a hug. They want to see the bus passing by and show that they are together. All of Brazil wants the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o in their city. I\u2019ve always had a very beautiful reception in Bel\u00e9m, Bras\u00edlia, Cuiab\u00e1, S\u00e3o Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro \u2026 it doesn\u2019t matter which region it is.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to the US to follow the team closely and maybe meet my teammates and the staff to bring positive energy. Above all, I am going as a fan of the Brazilian national team. When the game kicks off, I will get nervous, be focused on the game, watching the patterns of play and wanting Brazil to score goals. And, when they score, there will be a mixture of happiness and relief because I know that the whole country expects the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o to win the whole tournament.<\/p>\n

The World Cup involves much more than just what happens on the pitch. It demands total concentration, daily dedication, collaboration before, during and after games, and support from everyone involved. And I\u2019m sure the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o possesses all the elements of this package. Above all, we trust Ancelotti.<\/p>\n

The entire football community knows his history of winning titles but I want to emphasise that this group of players can also count on Ancelotti the human being, someone who helped me when I faced enormous challenges and who supported me in the most difficult moments. He\u2019s a special guy. He knows how to lead in the difficult environment of elite football and knows what he is doing in charge of the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o. Let the World Cup begin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am travelling to the United States this week to watch some of the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o\u2019s games at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-733641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}