“My family lost everything, but this made me grow up” : Meet Vagner, Qarabag’s keeper out to stop Arsenal in the Europa League
This Thursday, Arsenal aim to continue their run of seven successive wins in all competitions as they travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, to face Qarabag in the second round of Europa League group stage fixtures.
The task of stopping England’s third-most potent attack — with 14 goals scored in seven Premier League games — falls to Brazilian goalkeeper Vagner da Silva, or simply Vagner. A goalkeeper who has had to contend with more testing challenges than the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Born in Araruna — a town with just over 12,000 inhabitants in Brazil’s Parana state — Vagner is a new addition to the Azerbaijani champions, having joined in the summer of 2018. A senior career spanning 13 years and four countries across the globe, this is all Vagner has ever wanted. It’s a dream, he told the Sports Gazette, that derives from his uncle, who helped kick-start his career.
“He gave me my first pair of gloves and boots as a gift when I was just a child, and he dressed me up as his biggest idol, Zetti [a legendary Brazilian goalkeeper for Sao Paulo from 1990 to 1996]. That’s when it all started. I’ve always wanted to become a goalkeeper, even though people would tell me that I was fast and good with my feet.”
A journeyman, whose career has taken him to three different Brazilian clubs, two in Portugal and one in both Belgium and, most recently, Azerbaijan, it’s clear that his hard work and dedication has paid off.
At the age of 12, following trial upon trial, Vagner joined Atletico Paranaense’s academy, the breeding ground of popular Brazilian talents Fernandinho and Alex Sandro, of England and Italy’s champions, Manchester City and Juventus, respectively. This was his opportunity.
However, nothing is as easy as it seems. Coinciding with Vagner’s news, the news he had been seeking his entire existence, came the worst period in his family’s life. The Cassava Flour Company, run by his father and uncle, went bankrupt, leaving them penniless.
“My father was in a good financial condition, but suddenly he lost everything. Genuinely everything. I was very young, but it made me learn a lot — both good and bad lessons — and grow up as a human being.”
“This was a turning point in our lives and it took us to a whole different level. We are nothing when we are by ourselves. We’ve always got to have our friends and family close to us. I’m married and have a daughter now, so that’s why I know how important it is”.
Fast forward 20 years, and after demonstrating his ability at Estoril and Boavista, both Portuguese sides, and the Belgians of Mouscron, Vagner signed a two-year deal with Qarabag, a decision that he believes was a no-brainer.
“Here, the people are extremely receptive, and the club is very organised. I have a translator who speaks Portuguese and helps me on a daily basis, even though I’m the only Brazilian player in the entire squad, which is super rare.”
Vagner was one of Qarabag’s 13 summer signings and put pen to paper just a few days after another goalkeeper — the Icelandic Hanes Thor Haldorsson, the warrior between the sticks and one of Iceland’s Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018 heroes, who saved a penalty from Lionel Messi this summer.
Nevertheless, Vagner was undeterred and he continued to persevere, as he has done throughout his career, forcing his way into the starting XI and becoming one of the fans’ favourites.
“At first, the fans didn’t know who I was, but they are fanatical about the club. I was used to hanging out in the city, but once, after one match, I was waiting for a cab to take me and my wife home when a group of people spotted me and started running towards me to hug me and take some pictures.”
“One of the club’s directors came quickly to ‘rescue’ me with his own car. He told me to always wait inside because they quite literally take off your clothes. It’s amazing. The supporters are the best.”
Despite the low attendances in the Azerbaijani Premier League — a league contested by only eight clubs, which has been dominated by Qarabag for the last five seasons — the fans are promising to transform the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium into a massive spectacle. All tickets were sold out within a week, and the expectations, as in every European fixture, are even higher. This makes the focus on preparation even more essential.
“Of course we have studied everything about Arsenal. We already know how they play because we watch their games. The Premier League is broadcast here in Azerbaijan and we know their force.”
“Their manager [Unai Emery] is very competent. I faced him once at Estoril, when he was Sevilla’s coach in the Europa League, and if we make things easy for Arsenal, their forwards will capitalise on our mistakes, that’s for sure”.
Qarabag host Arsenal in the Europa League at 17:55 BST on Thursday October 4th.
Featured photograph/Eminn/Wikipedia Commons
