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Igor Paixão: ”Arne Slot is an exceptional man”

He became champions with Feyenoord last year, scored the winning goal in this year’s cup final, and had a significant role in the historic 6-0 victory against Ajax. Igor Paixão has been leaving his mark more and more at Feyenoord in recent months. The Brazilian forward certainly does not lack a winner’s mentality. “You should never give up on your dreams, no matter the difficulties you face.”

Igor Paixao

Paixão, which means ‘passion’ in Portuguese, reflects with us on the past season. Despite Feyenoord not becoming champions this year, Arne Slot’s team earned more points than last year. “In some matches, we made mistakes and didn’t play well enough,” says Paixão. “We managed to pick ourselves up and play our best football again. Unfortunately, this year it wasn’t enough to win the title. PSV is very good, but we work very hard. Fortunately, we did win the cup and we’re not left empty-handed.”

Arne Slot

Feyenoord’s success on the pitch has also been noticed abroad. After their last match of the season, Liverpool FC announced that Arne Slot would be Jürgen Klopp’s successor. Paixão has every confidence that the coach will succeed there. “I think we’ve all learned a lot from him. He is an exceptional man, a fantastic leader. He has a passion for coaching, and I’ve learned a lot from him. He teaches me how to score goals and how we should score goals.” According to the Brazilian, Slot has worked hard for the step to a top European club. “It’s great that he is getting recognition for his exceptional work over the past three seasons. Everyone here will cheer for him, both the players and the fans. Who knows, I might meet him again later in my career.”

To discuss the beginning of his football career, we go back to South America. In the remote Brazilian city of Macapá, Igor Guilherme Barbosa da Paixão took his first steps in this world. The city, located at the estuary of the Amazon, can only be reached from the rest of the Brazilian mainland by ferry or plane. Because of this, it is not a usual place for scouts to find football players. Nevertheless, Igor Paixão’s father was convinced of his son’s talent from an early age.

Ronaldinho

The forward was born into a football-crazy family and had only one dream: to become a professional footballer. Ronaldinho was his great idol, the footballer who inspired his own game. For him, Ronaldinho is the best Brazilian footballer ever. “His speed, his dribbling skills, and the way he scored goals were phenomenal. I looked up to him enormously.” As a child, Paixão could hardly escape football. “Football was everywhere when I was growing up in Macapá. My family loves it, and I have always loved the sport too. Now I am living my dream. I am very grateful for this.”

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Igor Paixao Feyenoord
Igor Paixao Brazil