Funkerstation » .She won Diamond League meetings in Mo

Former Portuguese international Deco talks about growing up as a young footballer in Brazil, his experience with top European clubs and life after retirement.How did sport shape your life?Of course, sport was (there) all my life, ever since I was a kid. I started playing football in the streets with my friends in Brazil. When I started out, I couldnt imagine that one day I would be a professional footballer. Back then, I just wanted to have fun and enjoy playing football with my friends. And sports has been my life, until today (smiles) and I cant imagine my life without sport.Who was it who introduced you to football?The first member (of my family) was my father. My father was in love of football. I was the only son my parents had - I have three sisters. My father gave me my first football, and I started to play, just like everybody else in Brazil. I played with my friends in the streets and thats where my first football memories come from.How did you make the transition to professional football?Yeah, like I said before, I started playing with my friends. At 11, I came to an academy in Brazil - and it was an important academy. Around that time I was playing football and futsal at the same time. All of my weekends were spent playing football (smiles). At 15, I stopped playing football and started playing only futsal, and then I returned to playing football at 17. By the time I was aged 13-14, football wasnt just for fun. I had to work, I had schedules, and I had to take up responsibilities. Of course, I wasnt a professional, but there were some big games. I had to be responsible, because I was living alone, I was living in the club. That was the time, that football started to be a part of my life.What was the best part of the journey along the way in professional football?Porto, Barcelona and Chelsea were good (smiles) but before that I was playing for Corinthians (in Brazil).To start with, my career was very difficult, because I changed clubs many times in my early years. I came to Portugal when I was 18 years old, alone. They loaned me to a second-division club and it was difficult, but I knew that I had to work. I needed to believe in my capacity to do something different. Of course, it was more important that I had the opportunity to become a good footballer.(Getting to play for) Porto was my passion, because I couldnt imagine when I was young that one day I would be playing for Porto. My life was totally different from what I could have imagined. The first time I went to the stadium to watch a Porto game with a friend, I said to my friend that this (Porto) is the club that I would like to play for. It was six fantastic years there...I won everything. My relationship with the club is amazing. They still respect their people after all these years.(Representing) Barcelona was my dream, and I refused a lot of clubs because I knew that my club was Barcelona. I had the good fortune of moving to Barcelona and be a part of the history of the club. Normally in football, everything finishes (when you move to a club like Barcelona) but after my time in Barcelona, I had the chance to move to other clubs; I got to move to Chelsea. By that time, I wanted to have an experience in Premier League, and my first year in Chelsea was very good. After that I had some personal problems in Brazil within my family, and my second year was not so good. I had two more years on my contract, but I decided to come back to Brazil, because of these problems. But it was good to come back to Brazil after 16 years, to play football, and I moved to Fluminense, which was fantastic. I won two Brazilian championships, which is a very difficult competition. Now when I think back, I didnt play a lot of clubs in my career, but all the clubs I played for are a part of my life and these memories will stay with me.If you were asked for your two best memories from your playing days, what would they be?It is very difficult (to pick two moments) in one career. It is a difficult choice to pick out two moments from a 22-year career. But I think the first game for Portugal was against Brazil (in 2003), and I scored a goal and we won the game (in fact, Portugals 2-1 win was their first over Brazil since 1966). Of course, it was a friendly but these kinds of games are never a friendly game (smiles). That was a good memory. And winning the Champions League with Barcelona (in 2006), that was a great memory too.How has life post-retirement been?Yeah, its very difficult to stop playing. I decided to stop because I had a lot of injuries. I would say football is my life, I am in love with football, and to be suffering is not good. Thats why I decided to stop, though it was a very difficult decision. But now I am taking my time. I have more time for my family, to take care of my things, my business. I still work in football, Ive got some consultancies with some clubs. I work as an agent for some players, and here (laughs) working on TV. This is how I am doing. This time (as an analyst) is good, because I am seeing football from the other parts of the world, a different vision from what were (used to) playing. I am 38, and I have time to see what I would really like to do in football, and thats what I am doing now.Do you have any message for budding footballers?The thing is, today everybody wants to be Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar...but of course in my time, when I was younger, I wanted to be Zico, Maradona (smiles). I know and I understand this, but the question is the kids first need to enjoy. They need to play football if they like. They need to play basketball if they prefer that, or cricket if they like. Sport is important not to become a professional, but to learn a lot of things; to learn how to work with your teammates, to help them win something. Theres a lot of good experiences in sport. Football is amazing for the kids; they need to enjoy, they need to have fun. Thats more important. WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams commands a place among the most elite companies in world athletics and yet has the misfortune of not even being the most famous athlete in her family.Adams will attempt at the Rio de Janeiro Games to become the first woman to win the same individual track and field event at three consecutive Olympics.Already Adams is one of only nine track and field competitors to have won world championships in youth, junior and senior level, and the only woman to have won four consecutive world championships in the same event.And yet when she gets together with family, Adams accepts that among her 17 brothers and sisters -- the children of her father, Sid -- she is only the second best-known outside her native New Zealand.Her youngest brother, Steven, is center for the Oklahoma City Thunder who -- with his wild hair and lavish moustaches -- was one of the stars of last seasons NBA playoffs. Two other brothers have played professional basketball within New Zealand.Adams rise to her status as probably the best female shot putter in history, has not been without injuries, struggle and disappointment.All those obstacles Ive had to overcome have made me stronger, mentally, physically and emotionally, Adams told New Zealands Fairfax Media. A lot of athletes probably would have retired by now because it was a long stretch coming back, but I didnt want to go out like that.I knew I had at least one more left in me. I wanted to come back and retire on my own terms.While Adams first announced herself by winning the world youth title in 2001 at the age of 16 and further demonstrated her talent by winning the junior title the following year, she has negotiated a career path beset by obstacles and setbacks.Adams was fifth at her first world championships in 2003, when she was 18, and seventh at her first Olympics at Athens in 2004 when she competed only weeks after an appendectomy.The most significant early result of her senior career came in 2005 when she won a world championship bronze medal and had her first taste of competition with her contentious rival, Nadzeya Ostapchhuk.ddddddddddddThat rivalry reached its pinnacle at the 2012 London Olympics when Adams, the defending champion, was beaten into second place by Ostapchuk.But the Belarussian subsequently tested positive for a banned steroid and Adams was promoted to first place, receiving her gold medal at a ceremony in Auckland several weeks later and denied a proper celebration at the games.In 2010, Adams split from long-time coach and friend Kirsten Hellier, an unpleasant epidsode in her career which also preceded a winning streak which lasted five years and 56 competitions.When Adams was finally beaten, at a Diamond League meeting in Paris in July 2015, it was because she was making a tentative return from a double injury which threatened to upset her bid to win her third Olympics gold medal.Adams had surgery to repair chronic damage to her right elbow and to remove a bone fragment from her right shoulder -- the most severe of many injuries in her career.She struggled on her return and it seemed her lengthy reign as the worlds best female shot putter was ending. But with typical tenacity Adams has rallied.She won Diamond League meetings in Morocco and Rome this year, was second in Birmingham then won again in Monaco in July, throwing more than 20 meters for the first time since 2014. That helped convince Adams that she is on track for the defense of her Olympics title.Adams will be without her coach Jean Pierre Egger, who injured his knee injury at Monaco, but said the bus continues on the Team Adams journey.After a difficult year with injuries, she feels the onset of her best form.We are getting back our mojo from a couple of years ago and thats something Ive missed a lot, Adams said. Its great to have the feeling Im able to dominate my training as opposed to it dominating me like it did last year. All these small things help with taking a positive outlook to the event coming up.I have goals I want to achieve. People have their expectations but the biggest expectations always come from within. ' ' '