Sayantan Maitra
I-LEAGUE Media Team

AIZAWL: Bhawanipore FC Captain Jose Ramires Barreto needs no introduction. And it is no secret that the Kolkata outfit – best placed for a berth in the Airtel I-League 2014/15 season – depends largely on the Brazilian talisman to deliver the goods.

In an exclusive chat with www.i-league.org, Barreto, a day ahead of their title deciding tie against Royal Wahingdoh, spoke about his present Club Bhawanipore FC, retirement, his inspirations, and much more.

EXCERPTS:

JOURNEY WITH BHAWANIPORE FC

I joined Bhawanipore FC in the 2011/12 season, and as soon as I came into the Club, I knew it was going to be very challenging. And as it turned out, the stint with the Club has been a really good experience so far.

When I first joined Mohun Bagan, things were ready and I knew I just had to play well to make a good impact. However in Bhawanipore, there was work to be done, as the Club had just qualified for the Calcutta Football League Premier League that season, and the only aim for them was to play the Second Division League.

We build the team together and made it grow as a Club slowly and steadily. These two years have given me a lot of experience and I am happy with the way things panned out.

RETIREMENT

It was something I was thinking of for some time. I waited and waited, did a lot of fighting with myself this year, introspected, and finally decided that this is the right time (the end of the current season) to call it quits.

I also believe that I’ve gone a bit over the line as well. When I was playing in Kolkata at the age of 31 and 32, people kept saying that Barreto is getting old and he cannot perform well like he used to. I gave a lot of thinking to it and realised that probably people expect you to step down now, and I should really abide by it.

There is certainly a time in every footballer’s life as to how long you can carry on, and I believe my time has come. However, strangely it also confuses me about this step I’m taking as whenever I’m out with the team to practice, my immense love for the game pushes me to keep continuing for some more time.

Maybe after some months, the feeling of retirement will sink in and then I will really realise how much I’m going to miss playing.

FUTURE

I want to explore different fields, and continue my work in the football academies running in Goa, Siliguri, and Bombay. Beto and me have been doing the work with these academies for the last 4-5 years and want to continue doing it.

Apart from that, I’m also coming out with a Sports Management Company. It’s been a long-waiting dream to get into sports management. It will be something new for me and definitely a part of my dream and part of being a footballer.

People always said that I have these leadership qualities in me, to manage players, and try out different concepts to make things better, from a structure to infrastructure, whatever. I tried a bit of my hand at this with Bhawanipore as well. So yeah, God wanted me to explore this field, and I hope to keep doing it.

INSPIRATIONS

(Smiles) Being a Brazilian, you cannot have just one particular inspiration. As a child growing up in Brazil, there were inspirations for me everywhere. Whenever we switched on the TV, there were great footballers playing – Zico, Rivelino, Ronaldo, and so on – that was an inspiration itself.

Once you are out on the street, you see so many kids and people of different ages playing football so very well – that was an inspiration again.

When I came to Gremio [Brazilian Club] for trials as a 16-year-old, seeing the star-studded professional team performing in front of my eyes was again an inspiration. So that is it. We all are born with a talent, and for me, the moment people saw that talent in me, it pushed me to perform even better.

I started believing in myself when people started telling me that you will be a good footballer one day. So, I believe it this way that first of all, people need to develop that positive belief of you, and in turn, it gives you the belief to reach heights.