From KFC to the EPL: New Everton signing Beto dreams of playing for Portugal alongside Cristiano Ronaldo after remarkable rise
In a GOAL exclusive, the striker says he never gave up on his dream despite ending up working in a fast-food restaurant after being let go by Benfica
Beto always believed he would become a professional footballer. Even when he was 18 years of age and playing for amateur outfit Uniao Tires in the fifth tier of Portuguese football, while also working in a KFC outlet, he was so convinced he would make it that he was willing to back himself – literally.
«I had a positive mentality,» the striker tells GOAL. «I thought, 'I'm tall, I'm strong, I'm fast – and you can't train these things.' If you're slow, you'll always be slow. So, I thought, 'I have these skills – the techniques and the intelligence of the game, these things I can learn and improve.' So, from there, with this self-confidence, I started to develop. I even told my team-mates, 'I will become a footballer', and I am proud of this fact. In my opinion, if you don't believe in yourself, nobody else will.
»One day, when my team-mates and I were warming up, they were teasing me about this and they said, 'Okay, let's make a bet, then: in five years you will be a professional?' I said, 'Okay, fine.' And I did it – and after only four years!'"
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