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The World Cup in his childhood and adolescence
I have great memories from the World Cup.
I remember that on my road in Bento Ribeiro in Rio de Janeiro,
we would watch the matches at a neighbour’s house.
He would open up his house, put the TV in the backyard
and dished out soft drinks and chips to all the kids on the street.
He had some perks with the Air Force
and shared it with us.
It was really cool, all the kids watching the matches together.
After the games we would all go play football.
Every kid would become their favourite player.
A World Cup at 17
I didn’t even want to win a World Cup so young, which was a great experience.
But important really, was to experience that with the great players of that time
such as Romario, Bebeto, Dunga, Mauro Silva, Raí.
I learnt a lot.
I think that was the beginning of an amazing story,
as the experience of that time together with those winning players was great.
I really took advantage of that time.
The 1998 World Cup final
I always say and it is always a question that comes up.
It is not a problem talking about that match.
In football, myths are created, but at the end of the day it is simple.
Football is a sport where two teams face each other,
one wins and the other loses (almost always).
In that final Brazil lost because France played better during the 90 minutes.
A shame, as we had played well until that final match.
In the final we played very badly.
2002 World Cup: comeback and glory
It was very difficult, not because of the 1998 final,
but because of the injury that I had suffered in 2000.
Then, I had to go through the recovery period, during which I did not play.
To recover in such a short time, near the World Cup was the hardest.
But then, the World Cup came and I was graced with the opportunity to play.
Big Phil [Luiz Felipe Scolari] believed in me and thank God, everything worked out.
I was able to overcome my condition and we won the title, the most important one for me.