Sevilla’s Diego Carlos: From selling ice cream and playing barefoot to becoming Brazil international star

Sevilla defender Diego Carlos has been on a remarkable journey throughout his sporting career and is now set to win his first international cap for Brazil.

The 27-year-old is in the international squad for the World Cup qualification matches against Venezuela and Uruguay this month, but as outlined by ABC de Sevilla his football journey has been remarkable.

The report speaks to the central defender’s brother Jefferson, who explained that his the player’s football career started as a 12-year-old when he was encouraged to attend a training camp, while the coach had to give him football boots to borrow as Carlos had arrived barefoot.

The youngster impressed in that session but then discovered that to continue at the academy, he would need to pay a fee and due to his family’s economic situation, he did not return. Upon hearing of this development, the coaches were dismayed and waived his fee due to the kid’s talent.

It was the start of a story of battling against the odds, when Diego Carlos had to combine playing football with making ends meet with a variety of methods to raise money – from selling ice cream, to collecting coffee beans and assembling furniture.

The player had to get up at 6am every day and work incredibly hard and was eventually picked up by the youth team of Sao Paulo.

However, despite being released by the Brazilian giants, the player’s big break came thanks to Mario Branco – the sporting director of Portuguese club Estoril, who gave the defender his opportunity of a move to Europe.

Now a Europa League winner with Sevilla, Diego Carlos is finally fulfilling his dream – although he had to jump over multiple hurdles to reach it.

Image via ABC de Sevilla

Tags Brazil Diego Carlos
La Liga - Club News