The lounge of a five-star Beverly Hills hotel is an incongruous setting for Antony to be discussing life in the Sao Paulo favela of Inferninho. Little Hell.
He has an image of the ghetto tattooed across his back and the word ‘favela’ written on his boots,as if permanent reminders are needed.
As if he would forget growing up amongst the drugs and violence or stepping over a corpse on his way to school at the age of eight; an impoverished childhood playing futsal in bloodied bare feet because his parents couldn’t afford boots,or going hungry until nine o’clock at night when they came home from work.
As if he would forget sleeping between them when rain leaking into the lounge made it impossible to stay on the sofa until they separated when he was 10.
Antony was still sharing a bed with his father when he made his professional debut for Sao Paulo,just 18 months before he signed for Erik ten Hag at Ajax and three years before he followed the Dutchman to Manchester United in a deal worth up to £86million.
‘I’m someone who demands a lot of myself and I was obviously not satisfied with my season,’ he said.
‘A lot happened last season. I played full-back and was a little uneasy about it,but that was because with the team losing or drawing you want to be in the attack to turn things around and help the team.
‘Being moved into defence bothered me a bit. You feel annoyed in the moment during the game,but afterwards it's all fine. I have tremendous affection for Erik and he has a lot of affection for me. He's a great coach and he knows he can rely upon me.’
To try and improve his performances,Antony and his partner Rosilene came up with the idea of listing his goals for the season.
‘I have a lot of objectives,ones I write down for myself and many for this new season,’ he added. ‘I haven't been doing this for that long,but I'm doing it a lot more for this season. I have to do it for every game.
‘Always on paper,in my house. I usually take the notes with me but if I leave them at home,I'll always ask my wife to send me a photo of them.
‘There are a lot of things I note down in detail: how many shots I should be making in a game,I can't lose the ball,I need to score goals and create assists,pass and dribble completions as well as defensive performance,more work on the right foot. I have a lot of objectives.
‘Rest assured,you'll hear the name Antony in relation to goals and assists.’
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