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. Calgary Flames Pro Shop . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Fake Flames Jerseys . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . 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