Upon arriving at Juventus, Tiago faced a challenging initial period with the new reality. He almost left, with bags practically packed, but then he gained self-awareness, felt the affection of his teammates, and rediscovered enthusiasm for a project he wanted to be a protagonist of. This and more is part of Tiago`s story in black and white: a romantic and unpretentious guy, a man who lives for his family like any ordinary dad, far from the spotlight. He`s a young man who loves music and books, who leaves football outside his front door.
Fernando Pessoa said, “Life is what we make of it. Travelers are the travelers. What we see is not what we see but what we are.” When asked if this quote applied to his initial impact at Juventus, Tiago responded, “Those words express my way of seeing things well, because I think we build our own lives. My experience here was difficult at the beginning, but now I am making it beautiful.”
Before delving into the positive aspects and hearing more about himself, Tiago reflected on the previous year`s difficulties: “Simply, I thought I would come here and play immediately, as had happened everywhere else since the start of my career. I was probably always lucky, I admit, but this situation put me in crisis. A crisis I overcame, thanks also to fantastic teammates who always encouraged me to continue believing in myself. The club, too, in the most difficult period, always stated their belief in me.”
Stepping back to trace his career from Viana do Castelo to Braga, Lisbon, London, Lyon, and finally Turin, Tiago recalled his first kicks: “In Viana do Castelo, obviously, my hometown, where my parents, brother, and all my friends still live. It was there, in the neighborhood where I lived, that I started playing football. All day, from morning to evening. There were many of us, we had fun, we didn`t have idols, we didn`t watch football on TV, we just liked to play.”
His parents were supportive: “My parents never hindered me, also because I went to school willingly and without problems. In fact, I continued until graduation, following a sports-oriented course of study: if I hadn`t become a footballer, I would now be a physical education teacher. My father Carlos, however, likes football as a fan. My mother Julia, a kindergarten teacher, is not very passionate. My brother Duarte also played, but for fun, then he chose another path.”
Tiago credits his aunt`s husband, “tio” Zé Santos, as fundamental to his career, despite not inheriting a football gene directly. “He was the coach who took me from the Vianense youth teams to Ancora Praia, another team in my city. He was the one who changed me, who gave my career a turn by transforming me from a forward into a midfielder. Even today we have an excellent relationship, he follows my career, and rightly feels my victories are a bit his too. He doesn`t coach anymore, but at Christmas when I went home, I trained with him. His sons don`t play football, so from a football perspective, I am his greatest satisfaction.”
None of his childhood friends became professional footballers. Tiago notes that it requires dedication, sacrifice, and luck. His best friend, Pedro Vasco, played very well but didn`t continue and now works in a factory. They remain in touch despite the distance, knowing they can count on each other.
Maintaining contact with old friends wasn`t always easy initially. “When I returned home, they looked at me with a certain suspicion, they thought success had changed me, but after five minutes they realized I was the same as ever.”
In Viana do Castelo, he also met his wife, Barbara. “I was fifteen and she was thirteen, we went to the same school. Everything started there, we practically grew up together, and she has followed me everywhere. Today Barbara is a full-time mom. When we moved to Braga, not having children yet, she studied psychology for three years, but the move to London prevented her from continuing. Now she takes care of Beatriz, who is four, and Francisco, who turns two in May. We are a normal family; when I`m not working, I`m a full-time dad. Family is everything: it is the foundation of my life; I wouldn`t have been able to do anything alone, to travel so much and face such different experiences.”
His first significant journey was from Viana do Castelo to Braga. “After a year at Ancora Praia, some Braga scouts saw me and called me. It was 1997, the first time I left my hometown. An hour`s drive, but I often went back and forth by bus. In Braga, I lived at an aunt`s house until Barbara joined me.”
The big leap came with the move to Benfica. “Definitely. The biggest surprise was my arrival; think about it, they bought me in the winter market, so I arrived mid-season on a Wednesday, and by Saturday I was already on the field, thanks to the esteem of Gesualdo Ferreira (current Porto coach) who wanted me. Since my debut, a good 4-1 win, I was always a starter. At Benfica, I didn`t have major adaptation problems, also because I knew Simao, Edmilson, and many others through the national team. This was a fundamental experience for my career because, compared to the primarily defensive game I played in Braga, the coach asked me to go forward, to score goals. In fact, I scored a lot with Benfica.”
He also won his first trophy with Benfica, the League Cup (Taça da Liga). “Yes, against Mourinho`s Porto, a great satisfaction.”
The same Mourinho brought him to Chelsea shortly after. “And I accepted; how could I refuse an opportunity like that? So came my first time abroad. A huge change, both personally and football-wise. The differences between Portuguese and English football are enormous: in the Premier League, there is more speed, intensity, physicality, while in Portugal the game is slower and more technical. Regarding personal life, I must say we didn`t enjoy London as much as we perhaps could today. My wife was pregnant and suffered from the cold climate and often grey weather. We were very young, it was our first time outside our country, we took a tour around the city now and then and little else. In the team, however, there were other Portuguese players, like Carvalho, already my national team teammates, thanks to whom adaptation was easier.”
In London, he achieved his first league title, also the first for Chelsea in fifty years. “I don`t hide that, sportingly, I experienced one of the strongest emotions of my career in London. I remember the Chelsea district blocked for hours, with fans celebrating, obviously in a very calm way, not like it would happen in Italy or Portugal. We made history at the club; it was a pleasure on a personal level for each of us. In addition to the league, that season we won the FA Cup, a splendid year.”
Despite winning, he left. Why? “Because at the end of the season Essien arrived, which meant midfield surplus and very likely the bench. After all, that`s how Chelsea is; they seek continuous turnover, signing the best on the market. So, when Lyon knocked on my door, I thought it was time to go.”
In Lyon, with the reigning French champions, he fit in perfectly. “The coach wanted me, and I arrived in a splendid environment, in a beautiful team that played perfect football. In terms of lifestyle too, with a small child, we felt at ease.”
The environment in France was different, less pressure than in Portugal or Italy. “We were the strongest, so everything was easier because we knew we could win everything. The fans, like the journalists, are not like in Portugal or Italy; let`s say that in this sense, the pressures are less. Perhaps it`s more similar to England, where the fans are passionate only at the stadium and journalists focus on gossip.”
Gossip is something far removed from Tiago`s way of understanding football and life. “Absolutely. I prefer to stay away from the spotlight. I don`t envy players like Beckham who are always in the papers, or like Del Piero who, willingly or unwillingly, always makes news.”
Considering his playing style among Benfica, Chelsea, and Lyon, which team`s game suited him best? “I would say Lyon, because it was the most spectacular, with a three-man midfield and Juninho creating.”
Given he doesn`t watch much football on TV, what did he know about Juventus when he arrived? “Little, to tell the truth. I knew what Paulo Sousa had done, and the only Juventus matches I had seen were the Champions League final won in Rome and the one lost against Borussia Dortmund.”
For Juventus fans, it was natural to compare him to Paulo Sousa, at least ideally. But were there any footballing similarities? “No. As players, we don`t resemble each other; we play in the same role, but he was someone who liked to maintain position, while I advance and try to score goals, perhaps thanks to my past as a forward, although it`s more difficult with a 4-4-2, but this is the formation chosen by Ranieri, it works at Juve, and so I am adapting.”
Since he doesn`t follow football, does he watch other sports on TV? “Little, because my wife is not very sporty, so when we are together, I prefer to watch something she also likes, like movies, especially comedies. At most, I make her `tolerate` some action films, since Mel Gibson is my favorite actor. My favorite film is undoubtedly `Braveheart`. Returning to sports, at most, I occasionally watch a tennis match; I used to practice it when I was in Lyon, but I haven`t had the chance here yet. This summer, I hope to go see the Roland Garros.”
Does football truly stay outside the front door? “Absolutely. Think about it, here in Turin, Barbara has only come to the stadium a couple of times, once in London, likewise in Portugal. It`s clear that we talk about football, but indirectly, when we talk about my day, our life.”
Home and family are his true refuge. “Yes, we live at home a lot, we go out little, also because we suffer a bit from the cold given that the temperature in Portugal is quite different! I like to take the kids to the park, then come home and play with them. Little TV, some music, my wife`s delicious dishes – she`s an excellent cook, luckily. We divide tasks like this: she cooks, and I eat. What? Portuguese cuisine, particularly bacalhau, a dish based on cod, with vegetables and rice. In Portugal, we are specialists in the single dish.”
Curious about his tastes, what does he do in training camps? “I read, watch some series on DVD, and listen to music.”
One last curiosity. In his life as a “traveler,” to quote Pessoa, did he settle into the cities he lived in, or did he always experience them as stages of his “journeys”? “I would say I experience them a bit like away trips. As soon as we have a few days off, in fact, we return to Portugal. It`s difficult for me to bond with a place, settle in, and make it a second home, but this has never affected me professionally. I am well in Turin and hope to stay as long as possible. I want to win something important, starting this year.”
Is it a promise? “Let`s say a commitment, but I truly believe it.”
As recounted in the official Juventus publication, in his first season, Tiago did not perform at his best and consequently found little space in Claudio Ranieri`s midfield, partly due to Zanetti`s emergence. He played about twenty league matches, rarely starting, with a very low profile performance, proving to be the major flop signing of the club`s resurgence. During the summer market, he was often linked with a move, but mainly due to his desire not to transfer, he remained in Turin as a reserve.
The following year, after a start with limited appearances due to an injury, he managed to play some portions of matches, showing clear progress compared to the previous season, even receiving compliments from coach Ranieri. “I have always stated that the players were bought after being weighed and evaluated. Then it`s obvious that they can encounter difficulties. Now Tiago doesn`t feel like a player who has something to prove, as he did last year, because the team`s game relies on him, and he has less responsibility. Now he can do what he knows how to do. The lads like him, and he shows he has crystal clear class. He played well in half of Europe, and it was strange that he couldn`t do it in Italy. Now, in the snippets of games I`m giving him, he`s proving he wasn`t a bad signing.”
He confirmed the excellent impressions with other high-level games, such as the direct clashes with Roma in the league and Real Madrid in the Champions League. But misfortune struck: on Saturday, November 22, 2008, in the second minute of the Inter-Juve match, he suffered a left knee sprain caused by a tackle from Stankovic, forcing him out for about forty days. Upon returning from injury, he started on February 8 in Catania-Juventus, confirming the improvements seen earlier. Due to injuries to Zanetti and Sissoko, he formed the starting midfield pair with Marchisio for the final part of the season.
With Ciro Ferrara`s arrival in the summer of 2010 and the switch to the more congenial 4-3-1-2 formation, everyone expected his definitive breakthrough. The player himself was very hopeful. “With Ferrara, it`s going very well; I feel his trust. My problem? It wasn`t the inability to adapt to the Italian league but the formation; I always played in a three-man midfield. When we played a four-man midfield last year, I was restricted with defensive tasks. Now I am freer; I defend but I can also go get the ball and build play, so I can highlight my characteristics. Why am I smiling so much now? Everything is going for the best: I am satisfied with my work and that of the team; we beat Real playing good football. What else can we ask for in this preparation phase?”
However, the Portuguese showed a clear decline compared to the previous season, playing matches of low quality and making gross errors similar to those that characterized his difficult first year in black and white. He spent the first part of the season essentially as a reserve, and was definitively sidelined after the match against Maccabi Haifa on November 3, 2009.
On January 8, 2010, his transfer to Atletico Madrid was made official, thus ending his rather unhappy adventure in black and white.
Reflecting on his time in Turin in an interview with the Portuguese Federation website, Tiago said, “I lost a year in Turin, the first one. I wanted to prove I could win through hard work. Afterwards, I started to see things positively again, giving my maximum and showing the coach that I could do well, for myself and for my teammates. From that moment, things changed and improved: it was the lowest point of my career, but I learned a lot from that year. There was never any harmony with Ranieri. It`s very important for a player to have the coach`s trust, even more so when you change teams and move to a new country. In Italy, from the start, I never felt Ranieri`s trust: from the first moment, there was never any harmony between us; I was at Juve, but I wanted to leave.”