{"id":11548,"date":"2024-12-16T15:27:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11548"},"modified":"2024-12-16T15:27:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:27:40","slug":"never-stop-gabriel-jesus-amazing-journey-from-a-boy-painting-on-the-streets-of-sao-paulo-to-being-hailed-by-guardiola-as-one-of-the-best-players-in-the-world%f0%9f%98%8d%f0%9f%98%8d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11548","title":{"rendered":"NEVER STOP: Gabriel Jesus’ amazing journey from a boy painting on the streets of Sao Paulo to being hailed by Guardiola as ‘one of the best players in the world’\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gabriel Jesus dreamed of becoming a football hero while honing his craft nine years ago.<\/p>\n

\"NEVER<\/p>\n

The now-25-year-old Arsenal recruit was spotted as a child doing paintings on the walls of his Sao Paulo neighborhood as Brazil prepared to host the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n

The determined Jesus established himself as one of the most gifted athletes in his nation at Palmeiras in just one year.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2016, after playing for his country and scoring twice in his first game, the striker had secured a record-breaking contract with Manchester City. when I\u2019m nineteen years old.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 rapid ascent and subsequent performances for City earned him the nickname \u201cbest in the world\u201d from Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n

Dreams can come true<\/h2>\n

When Jesus was just 17 years old, he was playing for the Palmeiras youth club and was captured with a paintbrush while painting the streets of Sao Paulo. In 2014, the country was hosting the World Cup, and it was part of a local effort to join in the excitement.\"NEVERJesus subsequently enthusiastically embraced his neighborhood of Jardim Peri, bringing his own color to a location known for its appalling housing conditions. Jesus paid tribute to his hometown by getting a tattoo of a little boy cradling a football under his arm and gazing back at his former area.\"NEVERHe honed his football talents there on dirt fields by playing a style called \u201cVarzea,\u201d as the locals call it.He showed his commitment to his skill by playing regularly for the Pequeninos do Meio Ambiente football team in the adjacent city of Tremembe between the ages of eight and fourteen. Every Saturday, he would walk an hour and a half to training in flip-flops and carry a pair of old football boots because he could not afford the bus price. He may have become the devoted and hardworking player he is today because of the eight-mile round trip.\"NEVERVera, Jesus\u2019 mother, reared him and has since closely monitored him as a celebrity. When Jesus\u2019 father died shortly after his birth, his mother, who also witnessed Jesus\u2019 ability with a ball, took on three occupations to support her four children.\"NEVEREven now, Jesus has never forgotten her plight. In remembrance of his mother, he also always calls her to celebrate his successes.\"NEVER<\/p>\n

Early years<\/h2>\n

In 2013, Jesus signed a youth contract with Palmeiras. But he was a good student. According to his former headteacher, he may have become a scientist after graduating with honors from Guilherme de Almeida State College.\"NEVERHowever, the temptation to play football was too great. With 37 goals in 22 games, he led Palmeiras in scoring during the 2014 u17 state championship. Top European clubs were quickly noticing his skills, but an academic career would have to wait.\"NEVERJesus made 37 appearances across all competitions in 2015 after being pushed into Palmeiras\u2019 starting lineup, primarily as a substitute. He scored seven goals as well.\"NEVERThe following year would be considerably better. He would appear in 46 games and score 21 goals. More importantly, he would guide Palmeiras to their first league title in twenty-two years. At the age of 19, it became clear that he was already destined to perform on a bigger stage.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the Premier League<\/h2>\n

Manchester City beat out several other teams to sign Jesus in 2016 for an estimated \u00a330 million.\"NEVERWhen he first arrived, he said, \u201cI want to win titles, and Manchester City is a club that is used to winning.\u201d In addition to Pep Guardiola\u2019s management of the squad, it was important that City is a team that regularly contends for the title in the competitions it enters. It was a premonition of what was to come. He would make his club debut in January 2017 and make an early impression, making 11 games and scoring seven goals.\"NEVERIn just his fourth game, he settled in despite a little problem with a broken metatarsal. The next year, he won back-to-back titles after winning his first Premier League winners\u2019 gold. Jesus, who was vying for the center-forward spot with Sergio Aguero, would score 45 goals in his first 100 appearances for the team. But not everything at the World Cup in 2018 went according to plan.<\/p>\n

Failure with Brazil<\/h2>\n

Brazil was expected to do well before that exhibition in Russia.\"NEVER<\/p>\n

Jesus was under pressure after his captain, Dani Alves, likened him to World Cup legend Ronaldo. However, the strain on his young shoulders left him floundering as he commanded his country\u2019s line. It is anticipated that Brazil\u2019s number nine will score goals in this scenario. Jesus received a perfect score in that area. They would ultimately be eliminated from the competition in the quarterfinals by Belgium.<\/p>\n

Finally, Jesus boldly said that his performance was damning of himself and had disturbed him.\u201dThat elimination of ours was a blow for all of us, especially for me,\u201d he added.\u201dI qualified for the World Cup as a key player, but I didn\u2019t score any goals.\u201d You are impacted by it.I\u2019m still scarred by that.<\/p>\n

An admirer of Pep<\/h2>\n

Despite skepticism over his ability to score goals, Man City boss Pep Guardiola stood by his player.\"NEVERLast season, Jesus showed his management how valuable he was by scoring four goals against Watford, his first season without being overshadowed by Aguero. At the time, there was already talk about transferring to Arsenal. In a post-match press conference, Guardiola talked about his importance to the team.\"NEVER\u201cI would like to inform you that one of our players is Gabriel. Although he plays for Manchester City, the Spaniard said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what will happen.\u201d However, Gabriel can fully realize his potential without putting on a performance like this one in which he scores four goals. He was always there, but he wasted two easy man-to-man chances against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Because he is always thinking about what is best for the team, Gabriel has this amazing gift.He makes 1,000,000,000 gestures for the other ones, but he doesn\u2019t catch the ball after 1,000,000,000 attempts. And when he has evenings like this, I am the happiest guy alive because he is always there.\"NEVERBecause of his amazing optimism and the way he thinks for the team, he will have a successful career. He will train the following day as if it were his final day if he doesn\u2019t play. \u201cGabriel is among the best, and we did everything this season with him,\u201d Guardiola would further add.Jesus, who is now a father to his daughter Helena with Wag Raiane, will now bring that infectious enthusiasm to Arsenal, where he will be reunited with former City assistant Mikel Arteta. To honor their favorite son and his achievements to date, the locals have painted a mural in his likeness. Now, however, it just needs to be painted red.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gabriel Jesus dreamed of becoming a football hero while honing his craft nine years ago. The now-25-year-old Arsenal recruit was spotted as a child doing paintings on the walls of his Sao Paulo neighborhood as Brazil prepared to host the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\nNEVER STOP: Gabriel Jesus' amazing journey from a boy painting on the streets of Sao Paulo to being hailed by Guardiola as 'one of the best players in the world'\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0d - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11548\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NEVER STOP: Gabriel Jesus' amazing journey from a boy painting on the streets of Sao Paulo to being hailed by Guardiola as 'one of the best players in the world'\ud83d\ude0d\ud83d\ude0d - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gabriel Jesus dreamed of becoming a football hero while honing his craft nine years ago. 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