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“My first goal 
in the snow”

The Brazilian Ilídio Pastor Santos is a striker for TSV Weiche, Flensburg, in the Northern Regional League.

21.03.2014
© Sandra Hoyn - Ilídio Pastor Santos

“I OFTEN STILL USE sign language to communicate with my coach and the other players. But I’m working hard on my German. The language course at the college here in Flensburg is my most important date – apart from training sessions, of course. We train four times a week, and then there are the match fixtures every weekend. My team is called ETSV Weiche. We play 
in the Northern Regional League against teams like VfB Oldenburg, SV Wilhelms­haven and BV Cloppenburg. The language of football is also different from Brazil: less playful, but for that the Germans run a lot more. Before I came to Flensburg, I had a contract with Portuguesa Carioca, a team in Brazil’s second division. Before that I was with Fluminense Rio de Janeiro for over ten years.

Now I’m 22 and my dream is to play in the Bundesliga or some other top European league. That helps me overcome my homesickness. I talk almost every day with my mother, my four siblings and my friends via Skype. Last December I told them about the first time I had to play in the snow – I even scored a goal!”