Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Manchester United star travelled from Armenia to Brazil when he was just 13 and Juventus star Hernanes was his roommate
Mkhitaryan dreamed of being like Kaka and trained with Sao Paulo for four months
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN has revealed he made a crazy journey from Armenia to Brazil - at the age of 13.
The Man United midfielder was asked to train with Sao Paulo and his mum, who worked with the Armenian football federation, raised surprisingly few objections.
Mkhitaryan's father died when he was 6 and the Armenia captain wrote an article for saying: "As tough as it was for us with my father gone, my mother and sister were always pushing me. They even let me go to Brazil by myself when I was 13 to train with Sao Paulo for four months.
"That was one of the most interesting times of my life, because I was a very shy kid from Armenia who didn’t speak any Portuguese. But I didn’t care at all because, to me, I was getting to go to football paradise.
"I dreamed of being like Kaká, and Brazil was the home of that creative style, which the Brazilians call ginga.
Keep up to date with ALL the Manchester United news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
"I actually studied the Portuguese language for two months before I left, but when I arrived in Sao Paulo I quickly found out that it’s one thing to study, but it’s another thing to speak with the people."
When he arrived in Sao Paulo, he found that he, and his Armenian friends, had been assigned a roommate - and one that was just as destined for stardom as him.
Mkhitaryan wrote: "He was kind of skinny like me, and he had dark hair.
"He greeted us and said, 'Bom dia! Meu nome é Hernanes.'
"At the time, this kid was just a stranger, but it was the Hernanes, the one who plays for Juventus now.
And the Brazilians always made him feel welcome, even though he could barely communicate with them.
Mkhitaryan said of them: "They’d just say something and smile at me, then pat me on the back. The Brazilians are amazing in their nature. You cannot describe it, you must feel that warmth when you’re around them to understand.
"Thankfully, everybody spoke the universal language of football. We became friends by communicating through creativity on the pitch. I remember I scored a few goals in training one day, and I thought, 'Wow, I am an Armenian kid scoring goals in Brazil.' It made me feel like a star.
"After a few months, I could speak basic Portuguese pretty well, and I had taught Hernanes the Armenian alphabet. Without a PlayStation, there was nothing else to do!"
After the technical training in Brazil, he returned to Armenia and was head and shoulders above the rest.
He wrote: "When I returned to Armenia after four months in Brazil, I was still quite skinny and weak, but I had technique and skill. I was feeling very free on the pitch. I was feeling like the Armenian Ronaldinho. (Hahahaha. No, I’m joking.)
When he was 20 he moved to Metalurg Donetsk and then two years later across the Ukrainian city to Shakhtar.
Related Stories
At a time when Shakhtar were on the rise and focused on bringing in players from Brazil, nobody thought an Armenian could compete for places with the South Americans.
Nobody except Mkhitaryan himself, who recalled: "I didn’t say anything, I just laughed to myself. In my mind, I’m thinking, I’m half Brazilian. Of course, I got on great with my teammates, and my three years at Shakhtar were brilliant.
"I set the record for goals scored in the Ukrainian Premier League in 2013, and it felt good to shut the mouths of those who said I couldn’t make it there as an Armenian."
But nowadays nobody dares say Henrikh Mkhitaryan can't play like the Brazilians.