Deco, founder and CEO of D20 Sports, was featured in the newspaper Expresso, the leading publication in Portugal. In a double-page story written by journalist Isabel Paulo and with photos of Rui Duarte Silva, Deco spoke about his life as a football agent, in addition to the day-to-day challenges encountered in his current career ahead of D20 Sports . Check the interview in full:

Anderson Luís de Souza, the magician Deco, who "kicked with two feet, better than Pelé", as the fans sang during the more than five years in which he wore his blue and white sweater, is back in Portugal. He is a player agent, has a club in Brazil and collaborates with the "biggest seller in the world", Jorge Mendes. He arrived in 1997 to play for Benfica, went to Alverca to win half of the promised by Vale and Azevedo. He still passed the Salgueiros before arriving at the Antas, precisely 20 years ago, in time to become a national champion. At 41, he tells how almost everything happened.

He lives between Portugal and Brazil. Where do you spend the most time?

For almost three years I have decided to reverse my family logistics. I stopped playing in Fluminense, I still lived for a few months in Rio de Janeiro and returned to São Paulo, where I live in Indaiatuba. For personal reasons we decided to return to Portugal. My two older children live with their mother in Porto, and I found with my ex-wife that it was an important time to settle here. João is 18 years old and will start university.

He has six children. Did anyone follow his footsteps?

No. Pedro, who is 16, always played, but a year ago said he has other dreams. Likes the business world and has ideas together with my brother. I do not worry too much, nor did I ever pressure them to play football. He played in Brazil in small teams and here six months in Paços de Ferreira.

Where do you live in Porto?

In Foz, in Passeio Alegre, a very beautiful area. It is one of the most beautiful places in Porto. Amazing.

Is D20 Sports a company or a foundation? Where is it based?

I always liked the No. 20, despite having played with 10 in FC Porto. It's a number with some strength and I ended up giving the D20 name to some things. It's a brand. It's a player-agent company, but I also have a foundation with that name.

And what does the foundation do?

In Brazil, in Indaiatuba we started a big project, which works as an institute to support 700 young people, from education to education. Now I do not have this project anymore. We keep the physical space and help other institutions that do the same social work to help children in need.

Did you start out as an agent for Gestifute?

Jorge is one of my best friends. We always collaborate. If it's important for both of us, let's not stop working together, even though D20 Sports do things it does not. I've made my way, I've got a line.

Does your company represent how many players?

Directly, I do not know the exact number. We do not have many, at most 30, because many things are confused with Mirassol FC, in the interior of São Paulo, where we do all the training management. There are many players leaving the club that are not us that we represent.

What was your first deal with Jorge Mendes?

The Fabinho. It was from a small club in Brazil, I discovered it and took it to Fluminense. In six months is summoned for the U-20s. I bring him along with Jorge to Portugal and then he goes to Monaco.

And Tiquinho Soares?

It is a transfer from me, a job of scouting the company, of discovering young players with potential. Soares played in a small club in Paraíba. He came on loan to Nacional, then sold to Guimarães and then to FC Porto.

Is Osorio also represented by you?

It is, but together with a businessman from Venezuela, who does work in training schools. At the time, along with Tondela, we brought Osório. It was our bet. How was Raphinha, who played in Avaí and brought us to Guimaraes.

Have you ever thought of being a coach?

I thought, but there is no end-of-career planning. There are decisions. And it's hard. I decide to stop playing even with a year contract. In fact, I'm going back to Brazil when I still had a year of contact with Chelsea, for family reasons. And I leave football because of a series of injuries. At 36, what is still good in football is the game, no longer the sacrifice of training. Already did specific work to get play and such. It was exhausting. In Brazil there was a demand for games on Wednesdays and Sundays, and I actually played one game a week. But when he was well, they wanted him to play all the time and end up having muscle injuries. When I stopped playing there were two things I always liked: training and management. To be a coach I had to have preparation and in my personal life I did not see myself as a coach. And so far I do not see myself.

Because?

To be a coach you have to be willing to have the same player life. Weighed the management side, the other side of the football. The agency of players is a side of the much that I lived, the process that I passed, is an area in which I think I can make some difference. Club management also pleases me.

In what division does Mirassol play?

In the State is in the I Division, in the Brazilian is in the series D. Our bet is more in the development of players.

Do you still remember what the song that FC Porto fans did to you?

I remember parts. The 'magic Deco, two-footed' ... FC Porto was the most important club of my career. There is no denying it. And it was not for launching me that the one who launched me in Portugal was the Salgueiros and even before the Alverca, who opened the doors for me. I won important things in Barcelona and Chelsea, but FC Porto was the club where I became a player in every way.

What was the key difference from other clubs?

I was very lucky with the generation I picked up, a generation that has gained a lot ...

I was on my way to the unpublished penta.

I arrived in March, 1999, and I started out against Braga in the Antas, and we were penta champions with great players. Paulinho Santos was a great player and friend, Aloísio, Rui Barros and Jorge Costa, were references, and still had the Secretary, Drulovic, Zahovic and Jardel. It was a generation with a great history in Porto, perhaps with more history along with the 1986/87 team, the first to win all European competitions. At age 20, it was a huge learning curve. It was the generation that gave me the basis for the future.

Fernando Santos, the penta engineer, was the coach. After FC Porto went on a fast of three seasons without titles ...

It was not titles. We did not win the next championships. We won the Portuguese Cup and we reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Of course after winning five championships, not winning the title is something out of the ordinary. It happened, above all, because there was a generational change and the big clubs go through it cyclically. Recently Porto have gone through this and it is happening at Real Madrid. At the time, people and fans are amazed but it is cyclical and will continue to happen after great moments of glory. For FC Porto they were very difficult years, but that made me grow a lot ...

Does this adversity for a starting player work as a brake or a force?

In my case, it gave me a lot of strength. I arrive, I have a spectacular year and soon thereafter came the pressure of not winning, the pressure of the fans, that in FC Porto is not easy. It was the house where I passed the good and the bad, I went through injuries that I could not recover, but in the end the story was beautiful.

In 2003 and 2004, he won two national titles, the UEFA Cup and the Champions, having been named by UEFA as the perfect No. 10. Felt perfect in place?

I never thought about the position, whether it was 10 or 8. My growth has a lot to do with my history as a player and the coaches I had. With Fernando Santos, when I arrived at FC Porto, I only had one chance to play and it was like 8. We played in 4x3x3 and the team had a 10, Zahovic, the main player. In order to take place, I had to try to play in a position of less protagonism, of more sacrifice, of balance, more than playing with some freedom. I had to be smart. I thought, "If you want to play, it has to be this way." After a year, Zahovic left and I changed my job. With Mourinho I start to have more responsibility in the creation than in the balance of the game.

And when are you going to Barcelona?

It returned to be a bit like in Porto: there was Ronaldinho Gaucho, who was the player with more freedom. And at Chelsea I also played behind and beyond. In fact, I've never really called that much.

Who convinced you to become Portuguese?

I arrived in Portugal in 1997, so more year, less year, was a natural issue.

And playing for the Portuguese national team?

Who tells me about playing for the national team for the first time is Gilberto Madaíl, then president of the FPF. The first conversation was in 2001.

What was your reaction?

It is like this: in 2000, an invitation to play for the Olympic team in Brazil arrives in Porto. At the last minute I'm not summoned. As in FC Porto already had some protagonism, I confess that it was a little punch in the stomach, because I thought it had quality to play for Brazil. Then Jorge Mendes, my manager all my life, speaks to me in the interest of Portugal. It took me almost a year to make the decision.

Before or after Scolari's arrival?

Before. It was not Scolari who convinced me. That was a mess. Incidentally, I did not bother earlier because the process for acquiring nationality was delayed, even if I acquired dual nationality because of national interest. When Scolari arrived, he had made up his mind. Of course you talked to me.

Was it a dilemma? From the moment she wore the Portuguese sweater she would never play for her country ...

The decision was difficult, it was a choice for life, even because he knew he had the quality to play for the Brazilian national team. It would happen naturally, I had no doubt. It was not a question of is easier here than there, even because Portugal had a selection as good as Brazil.

So what did it weigh?

I always liked Portugal, it was my connection to the country. The generation of FC Porto that takes center stage in the selection is mine. I was going to play alongside my friends. It gave me some comfort. In Brazil's selection I knew almost no one. I can not explain. It's a personal matter. I felt so good here that I live in Portugal.

At the time there was still some resistance against the naturalized players in the selections ...

Many of the players of the past were from the former colonies. Eusébio arrived in Portugal at the same age as me. Wondering what his connection was with Portugal was football. Then it became personal. The same thing happened to me. This discussion always seemed very stupid to me. The discussion can not be whether or not it was born in the country of the selection by which one plays. I naturalized myself because I lived in Portugal, had a relationship with the country, played in a Portuguese club, my children had been born here. I would never play for a team where I did not know anyone. I would not feel well. The same happened with Pepe. He came young, he likes the country, so much that he returned to Porto. By own option, because surely would have bigger offers. Playing in a team that is not the country of birth is a matter of feeling, not a passport.

And do you feel more Portuguese or Brazilian?

I'm lucky to have both of you (laughs). One of the reasons I bring my children to live here is to have another view of the world, to look at things differently. It is good to have many experiences of the world and, I may, I can not deny them. I think I've taken the good side of both countries, and I have a broader view of things.

How did the stars, like Figo or Rui Costa, react to their arrival at the national team? Was there suspicion?

I do not know if it was mistrust, but a climate of rivalry between Benfica and FC Porto. I was an idol player in Porto, the same as Rui Costa in relation to Benfica. The Fig was out, but they were friends, they were part of the same generation. Today I have a connection with Luís much greater than at the time. The issue only took some measure in the case of Rui Costa because, in addition to the natural dispute Porto / Benfica, there was the dispute for the place, for playing in the same position. I think we could have played the two more often together, which was up to the coach. We can not forget that there was a generation from 2000/2002, then there is the Porto generation that marks 2004 and 2006, which also includes the young Cristiano. The contest of positions between the consecrated generation and the young people who are entering is natural, as it was with Rui and me.

Did you talk to yourself?

Rui called me for a chat, we talked, and he told me that what came out in the papers did not come from him, he was happy. And we're friends.

He arrived in Portugal to play in Benfica and ended up at Alverca to win less than Vale and Azevedo had promised him. Was being cheated influenced the decision to become a player agent?

Somehow. I was one of the first players of Jorge Mendes, when he was almost unknown. He was playing at Alverca. Vale and Azevedo did not pay what I owed to my old club and I wanted to go back to Brazil. I had left a big club, Corinthians, they promised me a lot of things that did not happen. Veloso, who was an assistant to Mario Wilson, at Alverca, told me to be patient and to get me an entrepreneur. Then he told me that Jorge Mendes had called to say that he wanted to meet me and to have dinner with me. Jorge - who for me is the biggest seller in the world - had a speech so convincing that I left with a renewed hope, to the point of deciding to stay.

What did I tell you?

Who had talent, could not go back, would get a bigger club. From there I was calm, then to go to the Salgueiros and shortly after to FC Porto. The connection to Jorge Mendes, that yes motivated me to be representative of players and to do what I do. But I do not see myself doing what he does. I'm not a salesman. He is the greatest entrepreneur in the world because he has a different capacity from others, he has knowledge and arguments that I do not think others have. I see more about helping young players succeed. I know the challenge that soccer is at this age.

Twenty years ago, she said that in soccer there were a lot of dishonest people, maybe 80% was not serious. Do you still have this idea?

When we were younger we talked more with emotion and was going through a bad phase. What he said was because of what he was living. What I think of the world of football is that it is the same as other sectors, but that it has a much larger dimension ...

Why be more media?

Through media and big business. There is more interest, more emotion involved. There are good people and bad people, good and more entrepreneurs, good and bad leaders. Wanting to separate what is happening in football from the rest of society is not true. It's not a world apart ...

A world where millions have never moved. Does soccer live in a bubble that will burst?

I can not believe it will burst. It is a question of consumption growth. You can only talk bubble when there is virtual consumption. The world is consuming more and more football, so it is a real consumption. Countries that did not have access to football had. It's not like the real estate bubble was a few years ago and there was speculation. The value of television rights increases because the interest is greater, there are more countries interested in football. There should be no country - or too few - where you do not know Cristiano or Messi, or you do not see Champions games.

Is it a phenomenon still growing?

Still. It is the result of globalization of information. Maybe in a few years, consumption tends to stabilize.

In a sector of so many millions, how is it possible that a club like Flamengo keeps young players in uncontrollable facilities, ten of whom died in a fire ...

This is not a fatality. Fatality is what escapes our control. It is not a falling ray. It is a tragedy motivated by a number of things, such as negligence, lack of control and from what I read a number of infringements. Unfortunately, what happened in Brazil happened, which is the lack of planning and which is not punished in a timely manner. There were two recent tragedies that would not have happened if the necessary precautions had been taken, such as the situation of the Brumadinho dam in Minas Gerais. If the law were fulfilled, it might not have existed. Justice here does not work in the best way.

There are over 100 million secret files, documents and e-mails revealed by Football Leaks. Do soccer agents have reason to fear new revelations, after the convictions, for example, of Cristiano Ronaldo or Mourinho for running away from the tax authorities?

Whoever has done things well does not. I know them both well, and there was no escape from anything. There was a legislative amendment, which led to much confusion.

What a mess?

In Spain, when I played in Barcelona, ??there was legislation in which foreigners paid less tax for a variety of reasons, as it currently exists in Portugal. I know the people and who works with them. The two, like all other foreigners, were benefited by a law that existed and was changed. For some reason, there have been situations that have not been taken care of. There is great confusion, especially on the side of the Spanish tax authorities, which affected many players, not just Cristiano or Mourinho.

They were both condemned.

At this moment, in Spain there is a football hunt a bit absurd. As if only in football there are problems. I do not agree with that. I do not believe that they had created structures to escape the tax authorities, that was what allowed the law of the time.

Do footballers have too heavy tax burdens? Is it what justifies image contracts to pay less?

What players are we talking about? Those who earn a lot, those who earn little or those who earn a minimum wage? This distinction must be made. When it comes to football players, we can not look only to the top of the pyramid, but to the whole. And on the whole, players are somehow wronged by a simple matter: they have a short-lived profession and many when they stop playing are in no position to survive. They had no opportunity to save money. The same obligations I had to play in Barcelona have those that play in Louletano or Varzim. What's the difference? It is that some manage to have a career where they earn a lot, others walk the lower line and can not prepare for anything. It is very nice to talk about top football, but the reality of the overwhelming majority of footballers is short career, physical wear fast. And they come to an end and neither does retirement. It's a wrong system. There should be legislation for former players to have long-term benefit ...

At retirement age?

Perhaps.

But is not there also a headache for not bothering to do post-career training?

Not everyone is able to do so. I, a former Barcelona player, as small team players, did not have time to train during our career. I did the 12th year but did not have time to do a college. Now, yes, I can do it. Professional sports, of the millions, is beautiful on top, below is not what people think.

What did you buy with your first order in earnest? Was it in FC Porto?

I always liked to buy houses, real estate, real estate investment. I live a little of that income. I never wanted to have money in the bank. I bought, I bought. I bought my first house in Porto, an apartment in Aviz, when I made my contract with FC Porto.

And cars?

I never liked a car. With six children, I have two cars with seven seats, one for me, one for my wife. But I respect those who like cars.

Who were the coaches who scored the most?

What helped me most was Fernando Santos, he taught me things I did not know. Mário Wilson was also important in my arrival in Portugal, but what struck me most was Mourinho. I had not yet seen anyone train or prepare the game that way.

As?

He was a revolutionary at the time. His vision of training, of the game, of the adversary, was able to put everything he learned into one person and put it into practice. He had a lot of idea and ambition. It was fortunate to have worked with him at that time, when he had everything to give.

Stopped having it?

It does not mean that you have nothing today, you have experience, but it made a difference at the time. Now I do not know why I do not train with him. It will have successes, failures, the normal in football.

And Rijkaard in Barça?

He marked me by his personality. He was a coach who wanted nothing for him. The fact that he was a great player made him not want to be a protagonist. He had been the protagonist. In the successes of Barcelona he would not even appear. This is not normal. It's a bit Zidane's profile. It was one of the best No. 10 in the world. And I can not forget Scolari.

What's different?

It is a born communicator with the players. He has an emotional capacity and great conviction.

At the spa, who were the best team captains?

Jorge Costa had everything. Leadership, charisma. He was a leader in the important moments, and he knew how to handle the club and the coaches in the less good ones. Puyol was great captain by the example of the field and dedication.

How did you come up with the idea of ??saying goodbye to football in 2014, joining the 2004 and 2006 European Champion Clubs in the Dragon? Was it marketing?

No. I did not get anything out of it. If he could have chosen a club to end his career, it would have been FC Porto. I'm going to Brazil for personal reasons, and I was very happy in Fluminense. But since I did not say goodbye in Porto, I wanted to play the Farewell game in the Dragon. I asked the president, he authorized immediately and I ended up joining the two teams that contributed the most to my career.

Was it difficult to get your old colleagues together?

It was easy.

Which game most marked you?

It's hard to choose a single game. The almost perfect match was when we won here, Lázio, 4-1 for the UEFA Cup. I did not score, but it was the game that gave me the most pleasure.

And the goal that gave you the most joy?

I never had the will of the goal. I've never had this obsession. I never cared much. It was a defect I had as a player. If Deco-businessman had to give advice to Deco-player, he was more concerned about the goal. I always tell the players who play in my position. I was very worried about the game and the creation, about winning. It was a mistake. It could have improved the finish. I ended up scoring goals and it was logical that I celebrated and gave pleasure.

And did not you have one in particular in memory?

Maybe the goal to Brazil. It had a meaning, more than if it were a particular game. It was my debut, Portugal won, which has not happened for decades. It was a very engaging game. Brazil had been champion in 2002 and Portugal had a selection with very character.

And your biggest bitter of mouth? Have you lost the Golden Ball to Shevchenko in 2004?

No. The biggest chagrin was losing the Euro 2004 final.

He was named one of the best players in the race ...

For me, that counted for nothing.

Is not he vain?

I'd be lying if I said I would not have won the Golden Ball. But it is also true that my biggest dream was to win the European Championship.

This season, FC Porto have been ahead in the league, then it was Benfica, now they are taco a taco.E title goes to ...

I already thought more about Porto, then more on Benfica. Both teams are doing very well, although FC Porto have had a difficult management with injuries from important players ... For two months now the Benfica process is reversed, new coach, recovery of players, new spirit. But like the teams of Sérgio, they finish very well the final phases of the championship. So FC Porto is back to what it was for most of the season.

On Twitter, after the victory with Roma, he wrote "I do not know if he (Sérgio Conceição) is good, he was lucky, if he is a genius, a dictator, a professor ... I only know what he did! And if you learned from Fernando Santos, Mourinho or Jesualdo ... "

It was on a friend's twitter. I know where he went to get what he knows: a lot of work. It has a character that sometimes reaches the limit. He is a born winner. I played with him and I followed his career from the beginning. And you've done an excellent job. As a coach, I always thought the biggest difficulty I would have would be to deal with his impulsive character. It has always been and will be a mark of it. But it is also to your way of being that you owe your success. I like coaches who convey their identity to teams. In FC Porto he recovered things that were somehow asleep. Even the same players have another spirit. He did what Mourinho did at a difficult time. Both picked up FC Porto at a bad moment and turned around.

Today, is it more difficult for a team like FC Porto to win the Champions League than in 2004?

When the team reached the last 16, I said that FC Porto made them dream. He eliminated Rome and we continue to dream. I already found it difficult in our time, today even more, but it is possible to dream. The financial gap is growing for the big European clubs. The difficulty in maintaining players is also greater. In 2003, FC Porto made an effort to keep the important players and maintained. When you can do that, it helps. And FC Porto did this at the end of last season, even with the issue of financial fair-play. And he kept Sergio, who must have had invitations from big clubs. There is a lot of similarity between what FC Porto did in 2003 and now, so there is no way to not dream.

A few years ago he said that Pinto da Costa was the greatest figure in Portugal.

Portuguese football, but also one of the largest in the country. The greatest would not dare say in a country with so much history. Football certainly, for the transformation he made in FC Porto and for his ability to reinvent himself as manager in difficult moments. He is a chief executive, not president-figure. I know-well, I was fortunate to live with him for many years and still today. He transformed the club into one of the biggest in Portugal and with continuous success. It is not easy, you need to have more perception and feeling different from others. Despite age, she continues to make more certain decisions than wrong.

Do you usually go to the Dragon?

Whenever I can.

The first time I went to the stadium, it was said that it was love at first sight. And so?

I was in Salgueiros, I went to watch a game for the championship, I did not even know the interest of FC Porto, and I felt it was there that I wanted to play. I was in love with the environment. It is a club with a great culture of victory. There is a natural pressure for the city to involve the whole club. In Barca we also live a little that. There are clubs with this brand of deep connection to the city, which earns greater pressure to win. Go to your son's doctor and he's a porter, in the restaurant, the owner, too. Then when you win you feel very good, when you lose is a collective thing. This creates a natural need to win.

Is it true that when he won the UEFA Cup he asked to leave and Pinto da Costa did not leave, with the argument that the following year were to win the Champions?

It is true. I never wanted to leave FC Porto without being the protagonist, without entering the history of the club. It would be a loss to leave the club without being part of its history. It was a personal challenge. The previous years had been frustrating, but I still had invitations from other clubs such as Inter in 1999/2000 or Bayern Munich. At the end of 2003, my history at FC Porto was there. I had the sense of accomplishment and thought it was time to leave. All the more so since he knew of the interest of Barcelona, ??the club he dreamed of when he was a kid. And went to the president ...

What did I tell you?

That he would not let me out because we were going to win the Champions League. I thought it was funny.

Did not he?

I thought we had a great team, we won the UEFA with a lot of authority, but Champions would be complicated and it was not an argument to stay. Then he told me that he would let me out if Mourinho left. He went to talk to him and Mourinho said he would let the president leave. Then I realized that I would not have a chance. But the president made me a promise. And he complied: the next year I would go wherever I wished. Of course not at zero cost. The offer of Barcelona was not absurd by a player who considered the best in Europe ...

€ 15 million plus the return of Lent.

Yes. He had bigger offers from Bayern and Chelsea. The president had a correct posture with me, keeping the word.

Do you like living in Barcelona?

Liked it. I have a house. We go many times. When we decided to go back to Europe, my wife wanted to go to Barcelona, ??I wanted to come to Oporto. I like more. There is no explanation.

Is Brazil still the biggest supplier of football talent?

Yet, even for a geographic and population issue. Brazil has more than two hundred million inhabitants and the sport of the country is football, besides having a history of important clubs. So when I say the greatest is for the sake of quantity, it does not mean that it is the best. Portugal, for its size, is a country with enormous talent for football. Just stop to think how many players have gone out to top clubs. The clubs and the Federation have done a fantastic job.

There is growing enthusiasm for football from countries such as China and Japan. Is football's future in Asia?

It will be very difficult for an Asian country to reach the level of the European leagues. But Japan already has very good players. I have had negotiations with Japanese club, some already with 20 or 30 years of history, when in Europe how many are not centenarians? The same in relation to Brazilian clubs.

What has changed in Brazil after the election of Jair Bolsonaro?

I was not there, but I had friends who decided to leave. There was a great way out for Portugal, after the United States was the main emigration destination. The Brazilians chose Bolsonaro because there was a great feeling of impunity and insecurity. The feeling was that corruption was not punished, the law was not enforced. For me, they were the most complex factors of the last years in Brazil. The levels of insecurity worsened a lot, even in cities that were quieter. Bolsonaro's election was a vote against what was happening. Some change would have to be. Your profile fit the character that would represent the change, and people believed it.

And you still believe?

People are experiencing the phase of euphoria, of expectation. Let's see in the next time if it will match. Note that there is optimism.