Telles and Fred: Samba Brothers

The two pals, team-mates and international colleagues were full of laughter, banter and mischief as they reminisced about their childhoods and home towns, talked Brazilian football (Pele, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo), invited each other to barbecues and argued over cooking skills.

Read on for a smile-inducing slice of a fun-filled friendship…

Whenever we speak about Brazil you smile – can you both tell us what makes you so proud to be Brazilian?

AT: “We’re always together here and with the Seleção in Brazil. We feel really good and at ease. We have this joyful spirit. I think it’s a Brazilian thing, especially when we meet people like us, people who enjoy a laugh and a joke. It’s really important to be always laughing, it lightens the mood. And it’s impossible to keep a straight face being with this guy right here every day. We get on really well.”

F: “I think the fun is really important in our day-to-day work. If you go to work feeling down, you won’t have the type of day you want. I bring the laughter with me every day, all the time so we can work well, and that’s important.” 

Alex, you were born in Caxias do Sul – can you tell us about what the city was like when you lived there, and how different it is today?

Fred, have you ever visited where Alex is from?

AT: “My hometown is a provincial city, it’s not that big. I’ve got a lot of affection for Caxias. Fred’s only been there to play a match when he played in Brazil. But he’s yet to properly visit the best city in Brazil, Caxias do Sul. It’s a special place for me, I go in the holidays to visit my family and I’ve got a lot of love for the place. I’m really happy whenever I get a visit from anyone from back home.”

F: “I’ve only been there to play a match [for Internacional]. I’ve never been to visit Alex. He’s invited me there for a barbecue, next holidays I’ll be there for sure.”

AT: “I’ll hold you to that. It’s in the diary!” 

Fred, tell us more about your city Belo Horizonte and what it is like…

F: “Belo Horizonte is a really special place for me. It’s where I was born and raised. I love the city, we’ve just been back there to play for the Seleção. I’ve got tremendous affection for the city. There are many special moments and places for me in Belo Horizonte. Venda Nova, where I was born. I still have a lot of friends and family there, in the same area I grew up. It’s a city with special people and special places that stay with us for the rest of our lives. Whenever possible, I like to go back and visit and be with my friends and family, and I’m expecting Alex there for a barbecue.”

AT: “I’ll be there, just waiting for the invitation.”

F: “You’re invited bro, invitation received.”

AT: “Accepted. I’m not bringing anything, though!” 

Do you think kids in the cities you’re both from get extra inspiration and motivation that they can also make it in football because you have?

F: “I think so. We don’t come from rich families. The neighbourhood where I grew up, like everywhere else in Brazil, everyone has dreams. It’s the land of football, so children grow up dreaming of being a footballer. I’m delighted to inspire these children even with a small gesture. It’s important. Alex has a social project in his hometown, he could give you a better answer, he likes helping. Whenever possible I look to help the children there. I think this is important for the kids that come from adversity. We aim to inspire for them to reach the same place we have.”

AT: “I believe we have a lot of influence upon others, not just children but people in general. We’re icons for them, anyone involved in football knows how hard it is to get to where we are. We try to be role models to children in our day-to-day lives. I have a social project called Gol de Ouro Alex Telles, so for me helping 60-70 children every week is a great feeling. Knowing that they are participating in the project and doing well at school. It’s important to me that the children play football and study. The seeds we plant with these children are really important.” 

The friends ask each other about the first things they can remember about football… with Alex apparently taking a while to use his feet!

AT: “What’s your first footballing memory?”

F: “Man. I remember playing at the football academy, my dad enrolled me there when I was five. I’ve got flashbacks of playing on the pitch out by the main street. Good times, I’ve got some great memories. What about you, what’s your first memory of football?”

AT: “I remember my dad giving me a ball to kick and I’d just pick it up, I remember that well.”

F: “Goalkeeper!”

AT: “Practising my throw-ins! I remember this well, my dad always wanted me to be a footballer and always encouraged me. So it took a while but I began to kick the ball and started playing futsal when I was seven. I started playing, it was always my favourite sport and my profession.”

Brazil last won the World Cup in 2002 when you were both nine years old. Can you remember watching that tournament? The celebrations must have been amazing across the country…

F: “Tell us what you remember…”

AT: “I remember the penalty Luizao won (in Brazil’s opening group game, against Turkey), it was outside the area and it saved us.”

F: “I remember that I’d go out and paint the street and draw the Brazil flag, and put flags up on the street. The games were in Japan.”

AT: “We’d get the whole family together and the games were in the middle of the night.”

F: “It was just me, my mum and dad. I’d have school the next day and ask my dad to wake me up in the middle of the night to watch the game.”

AT: “It was a special World Cup that year, we had to get up in the early hours to watch the games, which was different. It wasn’t during the holidays, either, and we had to be up early to go to school. On top of that, Brazil were playing really well, with Ronaldo scoring goals. It was amazing for us. Winning the World Cup for us as children, it spoils you. You want to see it happen again and again. We’re now involved with the World Cup. It’s brilliant to now be a part of this.”

F: “Are we going to win it for the sixth time?”

AT: “Absolutely, that’s what we’re fighting for.”

This feature was first published in April’s edition of Inside United, and you can buy or subscribe to the magazine here.