Brentford’s record-breaking Brazilian has overcome a torrid childhood, racism and injuries – but is dreaming of Brazil’s No 9 shirt at the World Cup
Igor Thiago had dreams that seemed impossible. His impoverished childhood and the early death of his father forced him to grow up fast while still a teenager. To eat, he had to start working as a child. He was a bricklayer’s assistant, a fruit carrier at the market and a car washer … so many jobs that could have prevented him from becoming the Brazilian to make Premier League history with the most goals in a single season.
Igor Thiago has 16 goals in 21 games for Brentford. There are still 17 more matches to go, the first against Chelsea on Saturday, but he has already surpassed such Brazilian luminaries as Roberto Firmino, Matheus Cunha and Gabriel Martinelli, all of whom scored 15 league goals in their most prolific season. How to describe this turnaround in his life? Igor Thiago has an easy explanation. “I would describe it as a lot of hard work. I think that everything God has planned for my life, has given me this year at Brentford, is something I hadn’t experienced yet in my career,” he says.
As has been the case at many points throughout his life, the beginning of his time at Brentford was marked by difficulties and challenges. Two knee injuries kept him out for much of last season, to the point that he only played eight games in his first campaign.
“I was really upset because I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. I even thought: ‘My God, will I ever be myself again?’ Until this year’s pre-season, I kept thinking: ‘Am I going to come back?’ I felt it a lot. My body had never been through that before.
“But in the end, it was a good thing for me. I also worked on other things. Other weaknesses, too. I had something that was lacking a little, that I might not have had time to work on if I hadn’t had that injury. So I worked harder. That injury taught me a lot.”
The period away from the pitch enabled the forward to get closer to his young family and try to fill a void opened up by the death of his father when he was 13, due to problems with alcohol.
“I learned to really value my family. To look at life differently, to enjoy football, to enjoy being on the pitch. To play with more love, not to think so much about mistakes. I realised that I had to enjoy my life as a footballer more, enjoy every minute on the pitch, not let the little things frustrate me or take me out of the game mentally. I had to enjoy every moment, both the good and the bad, because they are what make you grow.
“I also became a father very young. I had to mature early. So, with the whole period of my father’s loss, life made me understand that I needed to be a man. Being a father is different from having a father. While my father was alive, I had many good memories with him. He was an alcoholic, but he was never an aggressive father. He was always very loving, caring. Because of the loss of my father, I had to grow up mentally. After his death, a lot of things started to be missing. So that pushed me even more to work.”
