Brazil’s Endrick, who is about to sign with Real Madrid, wrote a letter to his younger brother Noah that was released on The star’s Tribune in which he talked about how hungry he was as a child. He used his hunger to push himself to reach his very important goal for his family. about football.

Endrick was greeted by Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid, in the club’s usual room at Bernabeu Stadium in December 2023. Picture: realmadrid.com

Hi Noah,

I love you, kid. That is the most important thing, the first thing.

Since the day my mom gave birth to you, I’ve felt like we really belong together. You waited for me to score when you were about to be born, but I never told you.

It’s true! I was only 13 years old at the time, and you hadn’t even been born yet. I was playing in a big football game. Mom and Dad were both worried about what I was up to since I hadn’t come out yet as the time kept going by. All of a sudden, dad got a call from a friend who was watching him play. “Douglas, Endrick just scored!” the uncle said.

I cried so loudly that everyone in the hospital could hear me.

I finally came out to join you in celebrating the goal. I brought you a gift when I got to the hospital. The Golden Ball is given to the best player in a game. I didn’t have any money to buy toys, but I did give it to you.

See? Our family did not grow up with a lot of money. We were born to play football.

You are four years old now, and our lives are changing a lot. I don’t know when you will read this letter. He is going to Spain to play for Real Madrid in a few months. Indeed, that’s the group I always pick when you watch me play PS4. I want everyone to know about my crazy family life. Now is my chance to tell you everything that happened, with my parents here to help me.

In our family, the ball is the beginning and the end of everything. Mom said that when I was a kid, you never liked toys as much as I did. He only plays with a toy for five seconds before putting it back in its box. He only wanted to play with the ball.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a basketball, a roll of tape, or a sock. You’ll want to kick anything round or even square. When his father’s team gave him the 2014 World Cup Brazuca ball, he looked at it like it was a picture. He even sleeps with the ball wrapped around him! I was born to love football, kid.

Endrick and his brother Noah, who is younger. Picture of The Player’s Tribune

You can ask your mom how to introduce yourself.

“What’s your name?”

“GOING FORWARD, Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa.”

People will laugh because they think the boy is so cute. That’s what I mean! He always thought he could do it, and his mother still cried when she thought about that. Mom always said that words have power.

My home wasn’t as fancy in the past as it is now. I also can’t have a fridge full of yogurt that you like right now. That’s a big difference between where my family lives and where I live. From then on, a lot of people will talk about how hard life was for our family back then in the coming years. But the truth is that he had a great childhood, thank God, and it was because his parents worked hard. Also, thanks to sports.

Our street was on a hill when I was your age. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this. He and his neighborhood friends played soccer a lot. One reason we were so good at the game was that if the ball fell at the bottom of the hill, the person who missed the shot had to run down and get it from the slums below. That person will have to run even faster to catch the ball before it goes to the bottom of the hill if they pass someone and miss a shot.

Even though it’s crazy, you have to follow the rules of the street. You missed the shot, so get the ball and run.

I really miss the days when I was a child and football was just a game. Back then, kids would hang out and talk, which is what we call “resenha.” There are times when I really wish we could be there together.

He felt happy and sad at the same time. There is no way to get those lovely memories back. But even memories that hurt have sweet times.

You will learn about “armchair talk” when you get older. It was talked about in Brazil, but most of what was said was wrong. They say we’re poor and don’t have food, but that’s not true. They don’t know who their mom is. “I am too much of a woman to let my children have nothing to eat,” she always said.

He really did see his dad cry that day. For a 10-year-old, he thought it was the first time in his life that he really understood how hard things were in his family.

There is always everything we need at the dinner table, but never what we want. Do you know the difference?

We never spend more than we need to. It was he who sat down in the chair and told Dad, “Don’t worry.” Then I’ll become a football player and help our family get out of this mess.

He was just a kid before that, and football was just a game. From then on, football was the way to a better life.

After a few weeks, he left the city to join the Palmeiras school in Sao Paulo. He set his first goal here: to make things better for his family. He lives his life with goals in mind. That’s how God hears you. He knew he had to eat at least two or three times a day at school and on the practice field when he got to Palmeiras. However, mom has a hard time with it…

His mother left the life she knew in her hometown to follow his dream to Sao Paulo. He was the only person on the team, but his mom told him he couldn’t go without her. His dad stayed to work and send him money, and his mom moved in with him and some of his friends in a small house. Everything in one place. But mom didn’t have anyone to talk to at practice. We don’t have TV or internet at home either, so mom got the Bible and talked to God by herself. Mom only really has one thing: a chair. Mom put her bag on top of it and lied down on a cushion on the floor after everyone went to bed.

You might find it hard to believe that your mom slept on the floor, but it did happen.

Moms have to sometimes count every penny. There was a time when sending money wasn’t as quick as it is now, and it could take up to two days for the money to get to me. When Mom got paid early, she would grill sausages for everyone on good days. But most days, we don’t have enough to eat, and I feel bad cooking at home because my coworkers will ask me what smells so good and if there’s any left for them… What should I say? There’s nothing left.

Agent Frederico Pena (left), Endrick, with his parents and younger brother Noah while they were negotiating a deal. Picture: Frederico Pena

Mom stopped cooking all together because it hurt so much. When he was a little hungry before bed, he would ask if there was anything left to eat. His mom would tell him, “Go to sleep, baby.” “Getting some sleep will make you feel full.”

When our family needs money badly, mom can still take a little rice or cash. But one day, she had no money and no one to turn to for help. “Douglas, I’m so hungry,” she told her dad when she called him. “I have no idea what to do.”

Dad sent 50 reais right away, but it wouldn’t get there until the next day. Mother got on her knees and asked God to help her. After that, she pulled the bag down and started to open it. She found two reais. As a gift from God, small coins.

She bought a loaf of bread that was two days old at the shop. My mom would say it was tasty if I asked her today. When you’re hungry, even old bread tastes like heaven.

Being hungry and thirsty is not a good thing. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. I hope you never have to go through what my mom did. Because our story needs to be told. Say “thank you” and give your mom a hug the next time you see her. Our lives would not be the same without what she did.

He really didn’t know a lot of things until recently because his mother always hid her pain to protect his dream. He never saw his mom cry because she always went to the bathroom and hidden. Mom called dad several times to tell him he could no longer go on and that he wanted to go home… After practicing, he and his friends came back from the field and were very excited to talk about what had happened. goal. His eyes showed happiness, so Mom chose to stay. Thanks. Because we.

That’s my brothers’ mom, always doing what needs to be done. She is like a sergeant sometimes because she is always angry and tells us what we need to hear even if we don’t want to. She will also hug us and make the best breakfast ever sometimes. Don’t forget that you only do what you do because you want what’s best for us.

Dad also gave up a lot. When the few months were up, he went to Sao Paulo to help his mother and brother. He also went to Palmeiras to see if the club had any work for him. The people who hired him told him to clean the stadium. As a child, he always dreamed of being in the football locker room, so he gladly agreed. During his three years there, he worked his way up from picking up trash in the yard to cleaning the locker room for the first team. He told them over and over that his son would be with them one day.

There was a time when goalie Jailson saw that his father was getting thinner. People who worked at the school ate with the players in the cafeteria, and he saw that his dad was just sitting there eating soup. Right away, he put his arm around his dad’s shoulder and asked, “Hey Douglas, could you lend me your phone?” I’m going to call your wife.

Dad was shocked: “Your wife?” What do you want from my wife?

“No, no,” Jailson thought. She needs to know what’s going on with you. You don’t eat anything. “Are you okay?”

Dad was too shy to say anything, so Jailson called his mom and found out the truth. That dad burned his hand really badly when he was a kid while grilling meat. He almost lost the whole hand. To treat the swelling, they gave my dad a lot of strong medicines, which made his teeth very weak. At the time he worked for Palmeiras, he had lost all of his teeth and could only eat soup.

He quickly got the team to help him get money to fix his teeth, which was a surprise for his dad. Hey brother, God bless us in lots of great ways.

With God’s help, Dad used to want to bite into an apple. Now he can bite into anything he wants.

His second dream came true at that very moment. My family moved into an apartment above a betting shop that is right next to Palmeiras Stadium. Every day when he wakes up and every night before bed, he can look out the window and see his dream come true. It’s beautiful.

I still haven’t heard the story about your dad…

My mom is strong, and my dad is friends with my brother. Things have always been that way. My dad’s story is longer than what I’ve heard, though. You’re wrong to think I’ve been through hard times. Compared to his father, he was born in heaven. Grandpa wasn’t always with the family when Dad was a kid. Football is another way for dad to get away from that. My dad left home when he was 15 and walked from Brasília to São Paulo. Dad walks on the road half the time! Move! It’s been a very long journey, my dear. His dad didn’t even tell his mom! With a pair of soccer shoes, two 2-liter bottles (one with water and one with soda), and a few loaves of bread on his back, Dad went every mile. Dad wants to try out for every club in the city. It took Dad a week because he had to walk and take the bus.

When Dad got to São Paulo, he didn’t have any money and didn’t know where to go, so he just walked around and knocked on every club’s door, asking when they were hiring. Someone from the São Paulo FC team saw that dad was having a bad day and brought him some food from their pub. A woman from a charity group found Dad sleeping under a tree in the park on one of the coldest nights and offered him a place to rest. It had been more than three nights since Dad had slept in a bed, and the place was very warm. He overslept, so he missed the show with Nacional AC the next day.

Think about how tired Dad must have been. Can you picture walking for a week to follow your dream, only to miss the chance when it comes up?

He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when his dad told the story. Another night it rained, and Dad didn’t have anywhere to go. He walked to the Palmeiras stadium and slept under the roof of the ticket counter. Even though his dream didn’t come true, Dad did everything he could.

For Endrick, football was a dream because of his father Douglas and the unfinished career he had made.

When his dad moved back to Brasília, he worked as a baseball player. Do you know about the shadow? There is no pay or prize, just a strong desire to do it. Some people play to get a little “help” when they need it, while dad plays to get a small bag of rice or pay the power bill. As a kid, he would go to every game with his dad and play with a ball on the field’s edge. He often comes out during halfway and shows off his moves while everyone is playing music, having fun, and betting. Do you think that’s why he still mumbles songs when he’s performing?

“Endrick, how did you get a bottle of Coca-Cola?” his dad would ask him after games. “You didn’t take it from anyone, right?”

“No, no,” he said, “I kicked the crossbar, and Dudu over there won 10 reales.” Because I helped him win the bet, he bought me a glass of Coke. He’ll buy you a skewer of meat if I hit it again!”

That’s how he makes a living! His mom always said that he was dirty when he got home from playing in the mud for a long time. You know what Brazil’s street land is like, right? Like a dog, his mom had to bathe him. But as soon as he was clean, he ran out into the street to play football again. Do you still remember what I said? Football is what my family was born for.

Your dream is also my dream, as well as the dreams of our dad, our grandpa, and everyone in our family.

Did your dad dream that one day his son would play football at the Palmeiras stadium while he slept under the roof of the ticket booth?

That was when he turned 15 and became a professional football player for Palmeiras. Thank God, he had everything he had ever wanted in life. I bought Mom a house and moved both of our grandmothers out of Chaparral, which is a very dangerous area. When he talked to his dad on the couch, he knew he had reached his first goal, which was to make things better for his family.

What a lovely time!

But it was also so nice to feel better.

Things were very different for us when you were a baby, and they will stay different for many years to come.

You will move with me to Spain in a few months. Real Madrid… That was his third goal, but he never wrote it down. He didn’t have a phone or anything when he was 7 or 8 years old, so he often used his mom’s computer to watch Real Madrid collection videos. I know you’re too young to remember these names, but I loved Real Madrid when Cristiano, Modrić, and Benzema were on the team in 2013–2014. That was the door that let him into the past of the club. I began to watch videos on YouTube about the Galácticos and went back in time to find out more about Puskás, Di Stéfano, and other people. You will soon hear more about these names in Madrid, trust me.

YouTube is like a college; you can learn anything there. He looks at more videos of Cristiano Ronaldo than anyone else. Not only the compilation movies, but also what other people say about his drive and how hard he works. He learned from CR7 that ability is not as important as hard work.

He hopes to meet him someday. As I write these words, I still haven’t met him. But I have an Instagram following for his son, so I hope to be able to shake his hand by the time you read this. I pray that everything goes well for you at Real Madrid and in your work. Cristiano will also follow you. Maybe both of us! Oh, wow.

Get to know Cristiano Ronaldo. The fourth goal is to do that.

The fifth goal is to finish the season with Palmeiras and win the Paulista event, which is the major title in Sao Paulo state.