It’s common in the football world to refer to any incredibly gifted young player as the next big thing, instead of giving them the opportunity to define their own identity.
The pressure placed on children to perform to the level of the greatest players in gaming history weighs heavily on them.
It was the same for Rodrygo growing up in São Paulo.
At the age of twelve, he was dubbed the “new Neymar” by the Brazilian media. A year before, he had become the youngest athlete to ever sign a sponsorship contract with Nike, so you might forgive him for letting the gossip overshadow his amazing football skills.
After taking home the 2020 NxGn trophy, which is granted to the player deemed the greatest adolescent football player on the planet, Rodrygo says to Goal in an exclusive interview, “I think it is hard to find any way in which it is a benefit, because I think I will always be left behind in comparison.”
We are discussing Neymar, who is a hero for all that he has accomplished. It’s difficult for me to draw this comparison with him because I’m just getting started.Yes, it’s positive because it shows that I’m practicing what I preach and doing well on the field, but there will always be a negative aspect to being compared to an idol.
“I’ve always advised avoiding these parallels. I end up with needless pressure being applied to me. Thank God, there was never any debate when I stated that I didn’t want to be compared (with anyone). There occasionally is, but it originates from outside, so it doesn’t really affect the game.
Rodrygo may downplay his chances of being the most expensive player in the world, but the Real Madrid winger is clearly headed for solo stardom based on the early evidence.
At the beginning of the 2019–20 season, the 17-year-old Brazilian was signed by Santos in a deal valued at €45 million (£39 million/$52 million). It was anticipated that he would play a significant portion of the season for the club’s Castilla team, which competes in the third division of Spanish football.
However, by the end of September, Zinedine Zidane had thrown him into the starting lineup because expensive summer additions Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic were having trouble staying healthy and performing well, respectively.
He scored the goal against Osasuna 93 seconds after coming on as a substitute, dribbling past a defender and curling a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.
His festivity? A salute to Santiago Bernabeu’s various corners. Madridistas now had a new idol.
Rodrygo, who was reared in a middle-class Osasco neighborhood and was born in January 2001, was forced to join a football fraternity.
In the lower echelons of Brazilian football, Eric, his father, played at all levels up to Serie B for nine different clubs.
Even though he was just 16 when Rodrygo was born, he made it obvious that he wanted his son to follow in his professional footsteps, even though his career sometimes prevented him from being a hands-on parent.
“My father frequently had to be at the clubs because he was also a player. It was only natural for a player to travel back and forth a lot. For me, that was the largest challenge, remembers Rodrygo.
We were occasionally in separate cities, therefore I used to cry over that. Although it was my greatest challenge, it also greatly aided in my maturation.
“My mother is indispensable—possibly even more so than my father—despite if she isn’t mentioned much in the narrative of my life. Both of them are in the running.
“My dad is always aware of that as he played football and comes from the same area. But my mother is also quite perceptive. Every day, she communicated with me a great deal.
“To me, family is everything. I call it my base. They are my constant supporters and go everywhere with me. To me, they are everything.
“I would stay outside all day,” he adds, thinking back to his early years. “I arrived to school early and spent the entire afternoon there. I used to get up early to play football until school time, then study in the afternoon.
“I played some more at night after getting home from school. I’ve always enjoyed playing football, hide-and-seek, and other outdoor activities.
Rodrygo’s early years were naturally centered around football, despite the fact that he is an avid skateboarder and surfer (he still watches surfing competitions as a spectator during his free time from training in Madrid).
When he first joined Santos Academy at age 10, he was a member of the futsal squad, playing in the same position as Robinho, a player whose career his father had hoped he would follow.
Robinho was still one of the most recognizable players in the world of football at the beginning of the 2010s, despite the fact that his splashy transfer to Manchester City had not turned out the way he and the newly wealthy Premier League team had intended.
Before departing for Europe at the age of 21, Robinho, too, started his career at Santos, where he appeared in over 100 Serie A games for the formidable Brazilian team.
A decade later, Neymar took a nearly exact same route, playing 100 league games for Santos before moving from Brazil to Barcelona at the age of 21.
The two wing players are revered as the cornerstones of contemporary Santos; they made an impression on the Peixe before joining the two largest clubs in Spain and earning more than 100 caps between them.
But none of them can match Pele, the real monarch of Vila Belmiro.
A veteran of over 650 games for the club, Pele averaged just short of a goal-a-game before leaving for a swansong with the New York Cosmos in 1975.
For any child entering the Santos system, Pele is, and in all likelihood will always be, the standard bearer for excellence.
And despite the external comparisons to two far more contemporary figures, for Rodrygo the dream of replicating Brazil’s greatest ever was never too far away.
“They [Pele, Neymar and Robinho] represent a lot for me,” he recalls. “Neymar was the one I followed the most, but I had the opportunity to meet the three of them.
“Even before coming to Madrid, I went to Pele’s house and I received his blessing before leaving.
“I remember a phrase that Pele said: ‘Never be afraid of anything’. I will always take this phrase with me, whether here, in the Brazilian national team, wherever I am.
“He told me not to be afraid of anything, to play my game, play my football and not to be afraid of anything at all in my life. That has been fundamental for me, especially in my start here at Real Madrid.
“Robinho, on the few times we met, was super nice to me, super nice person, just like he looks on television, and he’s even better off the field. I still have a friendship with Neymar. They mean a lot to me. They are idols for me.
“I saw Pele play a little [on video], but, according to everything they say, he is the greatest in history, so he is an idol. Neymar is my biggest idol. And Robinho too, for everything he did at Santos and also at Real Madrid.”
At the age of 16 years and 300 days, Rodrygo would follow in his idols’ footsteps by making his Santos debut, stepping off the bench as a late substitute in a 3-1 Serie A win over Atletico Mineiro.
Just over two weeks after his 17th birthday he netted his first senior goal with a last-minute winner against Ponte Preta. Santos had their new star attraction.
“Santos is my life,” Rodrygo says of his boyhood club. “It is the club that welcomed me when I was 10, gave me everything until I was 18, and I can only thank Santos.
“It is the club that will always be in my heart, not only because I am a fan, but for all that it has done for me and for all my family, for all the support it has given.
“Vila Belmiro means a lot to me. I always dreamed of being able to play there, of being able to enter that stadium.
“After I managed to realise the dream of making my professional debut at Vila Belmiro, it was really a dream come true, one of the happiest days of my life. Vila represents a dream and I was able to play a lot there.”
Though Rodrygo did not last as long at Santos as those superstars who came before him, he still made quite the impact.
A Copa Libertadores record holder as both the club’s youngest player and Brazil’s youngest goalscorer in the competition, he played just 41 Serie A games for the club before Madrid came calling, finishing his time with the club wearing the No.11 on his back in a tribute to Neymar.
Even with fame and fortune calling, young boys rarely forget their heroes.
Following his dramatic Madrid debut, Rodrygo spent the late autumn generating more headlines.
His first La Liga start saw him register a second league goal for the club before he truly spring-boarded into the wider footballing consciousness on a Wednesday evening in early November.
Making just his second Champions League start, within 375 seconds of kick-off against Galatasaray the teenager had already got himself on the scoresheet twice.
When the Blancos were awarded a penalty in the 14th minute, the opportunity arrived for him to score the fastest hat-trick in the competition’s history.
Never one for narratives, Sergio Ramos pulled rank and found the net from 12 yards himself.
One fairy tale extinguished, Rodrygo made sure not to let that near miss stop himself from earning a place in the record books.
With the game entering injury time and Madrid 5-0 up, he picked up possession on the left around 40 yards from goal before driving inside.
Having played the ball into Karim Benzema he continued his run to latch onto the return pass and poke the ball in for his hat-trick, and a perfect one at that.
In doing so he became the first player born in the 21st century to score a treble in Europe’s premier club competition, as well as the second-youngest ever to take home the match ball.
Used to following in the footsteps of legends, Rodrygo’s early performances suggested he had no issue when it came to playing under one of world football’s most revered individuals in Zidane.
Hailed for his ability to manage a dressing room during Madrid’s run of three straight Champions League triumphs, Zidane has now been tasked with building a team capable of replicating that success.
But those same players are two years older and the individual most to thank for the titles is now 1,500 kilometres away in Turin.
A number of young players, like Rodrygo, have been recruited to the Bernabeu in recent years to assist Zidane in developing his new generation of Galacticos.
Additionally, there are indications that they are in agreement even if they haven’t used him as much since the year’s beginning.
Rodrygo says, “We have a very good relationship.” He’s a guy that welcomed me warmly, looked after me well here, and knew when to bring me in to warm up and play.
Now, I think he plays a big part in my ability to perform well. He chats to me, gives me advice on how to get better, and compliments me on my accomplishments. He helps me a lot every day.
“We’ve had a great time together the entire time.”
Zidane’s future attack is starting to take on a samba flavor with the addition of fellow Brazilian Reinier in January, following the 19-year-old’s arrival 12 months after that of fellow countryman Vinicius Junior.
The three have cost Madrid a total of €126 million (£107 million/$138 million). Although they will have time to mature, the day will come when they can guide one of the greatest teams in Europe into a new era.
Rodrygo states, “We have this dream of making history here at Real Madrid and in the national team.” “Vinicius and I have a great working relationship.
We met in Brazil, but due to the distance between our hometowns—Rio and Sao Paulo—we were only able to communicate online and over WhatsApp.
“We spend every day together now, and our friendship is growing stronger. We have many interests and aspirations that we aspire will come true.
“I think they are wanting to set up a trio here, or a Brazilian quartet up front!” he said upon Reinier’s arrival. Let’s see, I’m still unsure.
For many back home, the prospect of three Brazilians of the same generation starting for Real Madrid is not insignificant.
The 2022 World Cup will mark two decades since the Selecao last lifted the most famous trophy of them all, with the last four tournaments returning just a solitary semi-final appearance for a nation who reached the final of the three previous editions.
Soon after his debut against Galatasaray, Rodrygo made his debut for Brazil, playing the last 20 minutes of a 1-0 friendly loss to Argentina in November.
A place in the squad for next summer’s defence of the Copa America is within his grasp if he can rediscover his 2019 form.
As he considers his Selecao bow, he remarks, “To wear this shirt is the biggest dream of every Brazilian boy.” It’s a realization of a dream. I hope to wear this shirt more often.
“I will continue to do my job here to return to the national team more often. It is really the realisation of the biggest dream as a professional player, any boy dreams of wearing the shirt one day, and I was able to make that dream come true.
“I know it’s a big responsibility, that’s why I always have to do things, the right things, because I know that there are people who mirror me, there are people who will sometimes copy me in what I do. I know that the responsibility is huge.”
Rodrygo is right – he knows all too well the impact a hero can make on a young footballer’s career.
The signs are that he is now ready to step out of his own idols’ shadows and become an icon in his own right.