Philippe Coutinho has returned to the Gigante da Colina. The prodigal son of the Carioca club has once again donned the jersey of his formative club 14 years after his departure to Inter Milan, and the club has formally presented him with a press conference in which he revealed various details about his homecoming.
- Philippe Coutinho was officially presented as a new reinforcement for Vasco da Gama on Thursday (11);
- The Brazilian attacking midfielder arrived on loan and will be at the club until mid-2025;
- In a press conference, Coutinho spoke about the details of the long and complex operation that allowed him to return to his formative club, also revealing his motivations, goals and dreams in this new stage.
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Coutinho and his motivation to accept Vasco’s proposal
Despite being announced just on Wednesday (10) and presented on Thursday (11), Philippe Coutinho did not hide his eagerness to take the field for the recent Brasileirão match against Corinthians, a game in which the Cruzmaltino squad won 2-0 with goals from Piton and Sforza:
“I wanted to be on the field yesterday, but I was on vacation, training. If it depends on me (I would debut) as soon as possible, but all this will be discussed and guided with the entire staff,” revealed the 32-year-old player.
The footballer with a past at FC Barcelona, Liverpool or Bayern revealed that he sacrificed quite a bit, mainly financially, to accept Vasco da Gama’s offer. However, without any regret, the new “11” of Vasco assured that he did it out of love for the club:
“The issue of conceding a lot is true, but it’s not something that only happened to Philippe (Himself). Vasco did everything so that I could be here, the president too and I am very grateful for that. There are many motivations to return, but love for the club is the main one. It is a club that I am very grateful to, because it prepared me for the world, not just in sports. It is the love for the club and this relationship that we have that made this return concrete.”
Is the Seleção a goal for Cou?
By returning to Brazil, Coutinho could return to the orbit of the Brazilian National Team if he manages to stand out at the highest level wearing Vasco da Gama’s colors. However, although the star did not hide his dream of wearing the Verdeamarela jersey again, he assured that it is not his main objective:
“The Seleção is always a dream. I was lucky to be there, to wear the Brazilian national team jersey, to be a champion, to play in a World Cup. It’s always a dream, but my main goal is to return to Vasco, to be able to help Vasco, that’s my main goal. To give everything together with the rest of my teammates so that we can achieve our goals together.” He assured.
With the Seleção, Coutinho played a total of 68 matches, scoring 21 goals and providing 11 assists. He was part of the squad that lifted the 2019 Copa América and won two titles with Brazil’s youth teams.
His last match with Brazil? A friendly match against South Korea, played on June 2, 2022 in Seoul. After playing 12′ minutes, Coutinho scored what is, to date, his last goal with the Seleção.
