The continent as a gift
Galhardo turns 19 dreaming of competing in the South American Under-20 Championship and the Copa Sudamericana.
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
Rafael Galhardo's 19th birthday is undoubtedly different from others. There's no doubt he'll receive more messages online, more calls... After all, the young right-back has gone from being a promising player in the youth divisions to becoming an option in Flamengo's professional squad. Money, fame, recognition... All of this is starting to appear in the life of the number 42. But he keeps his feet on the ground, dreaming of the future.
The celebration will be with friends and family, with a barbecue. The gift? It's modest: he wants South America. After all, his two main goals are to play in the Copa Sudamericana for Flamengo in the second half of 2011, and the South American Championship for the Brazilian Under-20 National Team in January. Coach Ney Franco, in fact, has already expressed interest in having the full-back on his team, and he was excited about the possibility.
"It's always good to receive news like this. There's the South American Championship at the beginning of the year and being there would be great, but I'm thinking first about Flamengo, about working hard here because the national team is a consequence. Hopefully everything will work out. The greatest gift for the end of the year would be a spot in the Copa Sudamericana. That's our goal and we'll fight for it until the end," said the player, who acknowledges that coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been fundamental to the group.
"He's a guy who likes the youngsters and has been bringing some of them up to the professional team. He just did that with Negueba. Knowing that he's watching us motivates us to do our best work. This shows that Flamengo hasn't stopped developing good players at home, as many people tend to say," he observed.
Galhardo also spoke about the changes in his life in recent months and thanked all the Flamengo fans for the affection he has been receiving.
"Things have changed a lot. You get more congratulations, right? More people, on Twitter, on my cell phone, which won't stop ringing. It's good to have this recognition from the fans, from friends... Feeling this affection is good. I'm going to spend my birthday with my family, relaxed, celebrating like in other years," he concluded.
The celebration will be with friends and family, with a barbecue. The gift? It's modest: he wants South America. After all, his two main goals are to play in the Copa Sudamericana for Flamengo in the second half of 2011, and the South American Championship for the Brazilian Under-20 National Team in January. Coach Ney Franco, in fact, has already expressed interest in having the full-back on his team, and he was excited about the possibility.
"It's always good to receive news like this. There's the South American Championship at the beginning of the year and being there would be great, but I'm thinking first about Flamengo, about working hard here because the national team is a consequence. Hopefully everything will work out. The greatest gift for the end of the year would be a spot in the Copa Sudamericana. That's our goal and we'll fight for it until the end," said the player, who acknowledges that coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been fundamental to the group.
"He's a guy who likes the youngsters and has been bringing some of them up to the professional team. He just did that with Negueba. Knowing that he's watching us motivates us to do our best work. This shows that Flamengo hasn't stopped developing good players at home, as many people tend to say," he observed.
Galhardo also spoke about the changes in his life in recent months and thanked all the Flamengo fans for the affection he has been receiving.
"Things have changed a lot. You get more congratulations, right? More people, on Twitter, on my cell phone, which won't stop ringing. It's good to have this recognition from the fans, from friends... Feeling this affection is good. I'm going to spend my birthday with my family, relaxed, celebrating like in other years," he concluded.
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