Manchester United star Antony has opened up on living in a favela named after hell to starring in the Premier League.
The Brazilian winger joined the Red Devils in the summer transfer window from Ajax after impressing in the Eredivisie. He has since become a key player for Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, despite suffering an injury that has ruled him out of their last five games.
Before picking up that unknown problem, he had an impressive return of scoring three times in six matches in the Premier League. So far, he has proven United right for shelling out more than £82million to bring him to England from the Netherlands.
It is also quite the change for the 22-year-old, who started off in much more modest surroundings. The winger has now opened up on how he was born into desperate conditions starting off in "hell".
"I was born in hell. That’s not a joke. For my European friends who don’t know, the favela where I grew up in São Paulo is actually called Inferninho — 'little hell'. If you really want to understand me as a person, then you must understand where I am from. My history," he wrote for the Players' Tribune.
"It is an infamous place. Fifteen steps from our front door, there were always drug dealers doing their business, passing stuff hand-to-hand. The smell was constantly outside our window.
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"Actually, one of my first memories is my father getting up from the couch on a Sunday and going to yell at the guys to walk down the street a little bit and leave us in peace, because his kids were inside trying to watch the football match.
"We were so used to seeing guns that it was not even scary. They were just a part of everyday life. We were more scared of the police knocking down our door. One time, they invaded our house looking for someone and they came running in screaming. They found nothing, of course. But when you’re so young, those moments mark you."
Two years after arriving at Ajax from Sau Paulo, Antony was signed by United. And he has insisted that his time playing in the favela has been crucial to his stunning rise to one of Europe's biggest clubs.
"Every day, my older brother would take me to the square to play football. In the favela, everyone plays. Kids, old men, teachers, construction workers, bus drivers, drug dealers, gangsters. There, everyone is equal," he added.
"In the beginning, I played barefoot, on bleeding feet. We did not have money for proper shoes. I was small, but I dribbled with a meanness that came from God. Dribbling was always something inside me. It was a natural instinct.
"I went from the slums to Ajax to Manchester United in three years. People always ask me how I was able to 'turn the key' so quickly. Honestly, it is because I feel no pressure on a football pitch."
