Toró celebrates his 24th birthday by traveling to Chile
The cast makes a point of singing happy birthday to the midfielder on the plane, on the way to Santiago
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
A soccer player's life is always full of travel. Because of this, they're accustomed to spending special occasions away from family, but not from loved ones. This is the case with midfielder Toró, who turned 24 today. Traveling with the Flamengo delegation to Chile, he'll have to wait a while to celebrate his birthday with his family, but that doesn't make him sad.
Breaking with cliché, the Flamengo midfielder isn't asking for a victory against Universidad Católica as a gift. He knows that to secure the three points, the team will need a lot of determination on the field, and so he's praying for health for himself and his teammates.
"Of course I want to win the game, but it wouldn't do any good just to ask. We have to dedicate ourselves on the field to win. I always pray for myself and my teammates to stay healthy. I pray that no one gets hurt so we can do our job," said Toró, who can't get his greatest gift out of his head: his daughter Manuela, just over a year old, from his marriage to Luana, the player's girlfriend of eight years.
"I really have to be healthy. I have a beautiful one-year-old daughter at home," he said, explaining that the little one is already a red-and-black fan.
"I get home and she's wearing my shirt, kissing the crest and everything."
And to prove that he is loved by the Flamengo squad, Toró received congratulations and many other jokes from his teammates in good humor.
"I don't think there's going to be any egg and flour here in Chile. On the other hand, there's going to be no shortage of teasing," he said, shortly before hearing a chorus of "Happy Birthday" from goalkeeper Bruno.
"He's very well-liked. Let's give him the victory as a gift," said the red-black goalkeeper.
But all these jokes are commonplace in Toró's life. Having played for Flamengo since late 2005, Toró recalled that in other years he'd experienced a similar situation on his birthday.
"I remember we lost a game to Botafogo on my birthday," he recalled, referring to the Rio Cup semi-final in 2008. Last year, one day before his birthday, Flamengo beat Fluminense 1-0, also in the competition's semi-final.
Breaking with cliché, the Flamengo midfielder isn't asking for a victory against Universidad Católica as a gift. He knows that to secure the three points, the team will need a lot of determination on the field, and so he's praying for health for himself and his teammates.
"Of course I want to win the game, but it wouldn't do any good just to ask. We have to dedicate ourselves on the field to win. I always pray for myself and my teammates to stay healthy. I pray that no one gets hurt so we can do our job," said Toró, who can't get his greatest gift out of his head: his daughter Manuela, just over a year old, from his marriage to Luana, the player's girlfriend of eight years.
"I really have to be healthy. I have a beautiful one-year-old daughter at home," he said, explaining that the little one is already a red-and-black fan.
"I get home and she's wearing my shirt, kissing the crest and everything."
And to prove that he is loved by the Flamengo squad, Toró received congratulations and many other jokes from his teammates in good humor.
"I don't think there's going to be any egg and flour here in Chile. On the other hand, there's going to be no shortage of teasing," he said, shortly before hearing a chorus of "Happy Birthday" from goalkeeper Bruno.
"He's very well-liked. Let's give him the victory as a gift," said the red-black goalkeeper.
But all these jokes are commonplace in Toró's life. Having played for Flamengo since late 2005, Toró recalled that in other years he'd experienced a similar situation on his birthday.
"I remember we lost a game to Botafogo on my birthday," he recalled, referring to the Rio Cup semi-final in 2008. Last year, one day before his birthday, Flamengo beat Fluminense 1-0, also in the competition's semi-final.