Stuart Weir talks to a footballer in the Brazil team for the World Cup.
What has been your biggest disappointment in football?
Not being selected for the 2002 World Cup. I was really disappointed. I felt that I was at the peak of my career. My club, Bayer Leverkusen, had made history by reaching the final of the Champions League, the final of the German Cup as well as finishing second in the league. And I still ended up not going to the World Cup in 2002.
Do you play any other sports?
I enjoy tennis. I don’t play well but I like it.
How would you like to be remembered?
As a player I will be remembered by a goal that I scored or a title that I won but that is quickly forgotten. I would like to be remembered as an honest person, for the good things that I can give a person. A hug can mean a lot, and a word can mean much more. I would like to be remembered for that kind of thing.
What difference does Jesus make in your life?
The difference is that when you don’t have Jesus in your heart you try to seek out worldly things to fill the emptiness in your heart with which we were all created. The emptiness that I had was filled by Jesus. Today I no longer need to search for something to fill the emptiness with the things of the world because nothing has made me so happy as the things of Jesus in my life. And today I can see this difference because I have lived on both sides trying to fill this emptiness with worldly things, and today having my heart filled with the things of God, and the difference is that you become a new person, a new creature, and to live totally differently.
Have you ever had a red card?
Yes, once early in my career. I was playing against a player named Euler and he was very fast! He would kick the ball way ahead of us and take off running and I could never catch him, so I fouled him. The second time I couldn’t catch him, I held him back and ended up getting a red card. This was embarrassing.
Do you find being expected to win the World Cup gives you extra pressure? I think this is normal, from that time that you are a professional you have to learn to deal with the pressures of being expected to win. If you were to look at the Brazilian team, five time World Cup winners, winners of the Copa America , Confederations Cup holders, and top of the qualifying group, we should be favourites to win the 2006 World Cup. Have you heard of the story of David and Goliath? The favourite does not always win. We will go to the World Cup with our feet on the ground because we know that Goliath was felled by one little stone. That could happen to us too.
How important is scoring goals for you?
For me, it’s more important to win than to score a goal. Perhaps if I was a striker I would think that scoring a goal is more important. But for me, it’s more important to win, and for the team to be winners. It’s no use for me to score a goal if the team still loses that won’t help anything.
Do you play differently as a Christian?
Christians play differently because our hearts don’t have the maliciousness that we once had. Before I was a Christian, if I didn’t like a player I would be out to get him during the game. Now that I have Jesus, and I have peace in me, there is a big difference. Instead of wanting to get him out of meanness or something else that was upsetting me and making me not like that player, I try to do what is right and to respect the players we are playing against.
What does winning mean to you?
I always try to win. I always go for the win. But, we know that in our lives we don’t always win. Sometimes we lose, and when I enter a game, to do my job, I always pray to the Lord, and ask that His will be done, even if it’s for my team to lose.
What does playing in the World Cup mean to you?
I have played in for Brazil in a team that won the Copa America and the Confederations Cup but the World Cup different. I was in the Brazil squad for World Cup in 1998 but only played part of one game. I was not selected in 2002. Now I have the opportunity to go to the 2006 World Cup here in Germany, and my main goal my biggest dream is to be a World Cup winner. Players have many dreams, and if I were to speak of my life, my biggest dream is to return to the World Cup and be able to be a winner.
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