<h1 toutiao-origin="h5" > the 2019 Chinese Super League MVP - Guangzhou Evergrande's Paulinho</h1>
There is no controversy that after helping Guangzhou Evergrande win the eighth Chinese Super League title in the history of the team as a core, Brazilian Jose Pau Becella Marhir Junier received his first season of MVP during his time in the Chinese Super League.
In this perhaps the most difficult season for Evergrande in 10 years, Paulinho led the team to climb up from the trough as a single core and play a wave of 13 consecutive wins, thus completing the counterattack and firmly holding the initiative in the championship. At the age of 31, Paulinho's personal data set a career high, making 29 league appearances, scoring 19 goals and 6 assists, so complete offensive core statistics that everyone forgot that he was originally just a balanced midfielder.
Paulinho had a very bumpy start to his career, and the sincerity and dedication that ran throughout his career gave him all the opportunities to take it to the next level. From Bragantino to Corinthians, from Tottenham to Evergrande, and from Barca back to Evergrande, his style of play is already well known to the world: running tirelessly, blocking, fighting, protecting the ball, completing the offensive and defensive conversion in a flash, focusing on every moment and every inch of space, seizing the opportunity to complete the fatal blow. Not flashy.
Paulinho's career is far from settled. His trajectory of constantly turning back and forth between three continents is rare in world football, and each of his returns is a step up the ladder. Paulinho is the typical representative of the kind of person who has not given up on improving himself after leaving the mainstream stage in Europe. He did not come to the Chinese Super League for the elderly, on the contrary, he still worked with the highest standards, thus driving his teammates, carrying the team, and promoting the Chinese Super League. Recently, Paulinho was interviewed by the Southern Metropolis Daily, talking about the trajectory, choices and principles of his career. The players kick out with their feet, but they are actually intentional.
In the following interview, Paulinho talked about his experience and feelings of playing in Barcelona, as well as before and after returning to Evergrande, and talked about the various encounters when Evergrande faced difficulties this year.
< h1 toutiao-origin="h5" > in the Chinese Super League, Paulinho showed superior strength. Xinhua News Agency</h1>
Playing football in Europe, Barca was the happiest that year
Nandu: Is the opportunity to go to Tottenham hot spot your dreams? The Premier League is the best league in the world.
Paulinho: As a player, no matter where I play, I demand myself to the highest standards. But my so-called highest standards don't mean that I have to play for the best team in a country, or that my dream is to go to Tottenham or Barcelona. The only time in my career that I set myself a clear goal to play for the Brazilian national team, which was the only goal I had ever set. Everything else I let it happen is what we call the let it be attitude. I had a lot of fun playing in my 3 years at Corinthians and when there was a chance to play in the Premier League, I didn't hesitate to take it. I had a very good two years in the UK. But I don't force anything.
Nandu: Was your year at Barcelona the most enjoyable of your three European experiences?
Paulinho: Indeed, out of all the clubs I play for in Europe, this year at Barcelona was the happiest year for me. Whether it's in life or athletics, I've had a very fulfilling life. My family is happy to live in Barcelona, where my twin daughter was born. So everything happened at the best of times.
<h1 toutiao-origin="h5"> Paulinho was named MVP of the Chinese Super League. Nandu reporter Li Zhanjun photographed</h1>
In Barcelona, he practiced the belief in facing difficulties and brought it to Guangzhou
Nandu: Playing in the best team in the world, the goal rate is very good, do you feel like you are a star?
Paulinho: I think it's more accurate to say that instead of using the word star, I prefer to say that it's a career winner. I met the best players in the world in Barcelona – Messi, Suarez, Rakitic, Iniesta, Butskts, Pique... These are the best players in the world in their position.
During this experience in Barcelona, I felt like I went to a school. At the end of a season or in a game, when it's very difficult, when people think you can't break through, the experience Barcelona gave me is that we can, we can think of a way to break through at this time.
Then I took this belief to Guangzhou and to my teammates. Some people will question how it is possible to achieve good results in such a difficult environment, which I do not agree with, I feel that the Barcelona experience has given me more of a strengthening of my belief, I have seen something from Barcelona that I have never seen before, and this thing will always remain in my body.
Nandu: After playing from Barcelona for a year and then returning to Guangzhou, it is difficult for others to understand. What other factors besides money?
Paulinho: It wasn't difficult to make that decision at all, there was no hesitation at all. My family and I are 100 percent determined to return to Guangzhou. It's true that life in Barcelona, our whole family has a lot of fun, but like I just told you, guangzhou has a special affection for me. It's a place that greets me with open arms and helps me through difficult times in my toughest moments.
In professional football, no one can predict what will happen tomorrow, but in that moment, my family and I were very determined, and when we received this contract from China, when we received this rigorous plan from China, we liked it very much. So we made the decision to return to China without hesitation. Of course, the environment of Guangzhou is very attractive to me, and the fans of this city are very welcome to me.
I will discuss a lot of things with Zheng Zhi in the locker room
Nandu: The second time I went to Evergrande, the outside world felt that your sense of responsibility was stronger, although Zheng Zhi was still the captain, but this year, many people thought that you were the spiritual leader of the team. What makes your role on the team look transformed?
Paulinho: I think these responsibilities, or so-called leadership statements, are first of all the result of my every move in Guangzhou over the years , both on and off the field. Zheng Zhi is our unshakable captain and unshakable leader, but I also hope that through my experience, I can take on more responsibilities in the team and help young players grow. So privately, Zheng Zhi and I will also discuss a lot of things together in the locker room, and maybe we will make some decisions together. But I want to say that it all stems from my efforts on the pitch and the help my teammates have helped me.
Nandu: Evergrande teammates have a high opinion of you, what principles do you follow in your work?
Paulinho: I always tell my friends that I never want to be a superstar, I want to be a good professional footballer and I want to be a good man. In life or on the football field, the most important thing is to respect the people around you, respect your opponents, and respect your family. Transcend any difficulty on the basis of respect. The most important thing about a good man is sincerity, you have to be honest with your friends, you have to be honest with your family. We will spend a lot of time with our teammates at work, and I always remind myself that while always being sincere with your teammates, you must have your own subjective judgment, you have to have your own personality, dare to express your position, I think this is the most important.
It is the Chinese players who really play a decisive role
Nandu: Will you be particularly tired in the first half of this year? A lot of times it's almost a case of playing alone with ten Chinese players, and the results have been good.
Paulinho: I wouldn't use the adjective exhaustion to describe the first half of the year. Many people understand that foreign aid will play a very important role in a team, especially in Chinese teams, and I do not deny this. In many teams, or in many time periods, foreign aid can play a very important role, but it is the Chinese players who really play a decisive role in a season, because they are the majority. Most people can get things done, not rely on the strength of one or two individuals. Football is ultimately a whole project, and it is never the foreign aid that plays a decisive role in this whole, but the Chinese players, because they are the biggest part.
Nandu: You have played for many different clubs, some high and some low, some mainstream and some marginal, some top clubs and some ordinary clubs, what is the positioning and feeling in different clubs?
Paulinho: As a player, whether it's at one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the best clubs in Asia, or in other smaller clubs, the part that feels the most doesn't really have much to do with its level. The biggest difference between these clubs is in terms of hardware facilities. The conditions of the big clubs will be very good, the hardware will be very perfect; the smaller clubs may encounter greater obstacles in this regard, but in fact, after playing as players, these are not there. On the court is 11 people against 11 people, on the field to determine the winner, and what team you wear, and the value behind the team logo has nothing to do with the value behind the team logo. On the field is to give out everything you have, whether it is in a big club or a small club, the meaning of the badge on the chest is the same. There may be a bigger gap in some of the things that exist in terms of our logistics, in terms of hardware facilities, but the efforts of the players make no difference. I always hold myself to the highest standards, and it doesn't matter whether I am at Barcelona or Evergrande or Bragandinal.
< h1 toutiao - origin = "h5" > Paulinho celebrated the goal. Xinhua News Agency</h1>
I don't think about the Brazilian national team call-up
Nandu: This year's Copa America Brazil coach Tite did not recruit you into the team, but he came to Tianhe Stadium to watch Evergrande, how did you communicate?
Paulinho: Tite did come to Guangzhou and watched our game at the Tianhe Stadium, but he didn't have any communication with me, and I didn't have any communication with Tite during my time in Guangzhou. He was purely watching the game to see the players, so I think he was also looking at me, but there were Talisca and Augusto on the field at that time, and many different Brazilian players were on his radar. Tite, as the head coach of the Brazilian national team, he will have his opinion, and perhaps in this time period, Talisca and Augusto are in their best time and he will consider recruiting them to the selection. It's all a normal thing within a manager's confines. I had a fantastic time with the Brazilian national team as a player and I also believe that no matter what decision Tite makes, he has a highly responsible attitude towards the Brazilian national team. So let's go with the flow.
Nandu: Have you actually quit the Brazilian national team?
Paulinho: I don't think about the issue of national team recruitment, because I am first and foremost a player of Guangzhou Evergrande, and my goal is how to help Guangzhou achieve good results, and other things are not in my consideration.
<h2 toutiao-origin="h6" > written by Nandu reporter Feng Zhen</h2>