Sport

Brazilian footballers become fruit-sellers and hairdressers amid pandemic

Rio de Janeiro, 27 May (EFE), (Camera: Renato Spyrro).- Hairdressing, selling fruit and home deliveries are just some of the jobs professional footballers have branched into to make ends meet during the Covid-19 pandemic. FOOTAGE OF AND STATEMENTS BY FOOTBALLERS CARLOS ALBERTO LOPES DA SILVA AND GEDEILSON VANDER ALVES DE OLIVEIRA TRANSLATIONS:ALVES DE OLIVEIRA:- "When that pandemic came and my contract was terminated in april, I remembered the people who sold fruit in residential complexes when I lived in Cuiabá and Lins because of my football career".- "Thank god i had a very good salary in football, I'm sure I won't get the same money, but it's something I can help a head of household with, that help guarantees me a way that I can keep the money I have saved, but the difference is big".- "I wake up at 6:30 in the morning, I organize my car, when I arrive he is already there, we set up the shop, I go home, change my clothes and start training. Every day, except Sundays." LOPES DA SILVA:- "I confess it's very difficult. We have to make do with what we have, we depend on football, on America. And at this moment he is standing, here at the hairdresser's, thank god, with that I can bring my wife and son their daily bread".- "In 2017 i signed the contract, but the salary was one, two, three, four months late and they didn't give us a solution and at the time my wife was pregnant and I didn't even have the money to pay the ticket. As I had to bring food, my mother gave me the hair-cutters so that i could work as a hairdresser".- "I have many hairdresser friends and they told me they would teach me. Thank god they were very patient and I was learning. That's why my second choice after football is hairdressing".