To be honest, I remember a lot of them, all my teachers and I think now that teachers are a big part in our development of our lives. I think, straight after our parents and our family, that teachers are the most important people in our lives until a certain time when you start thinking by yourself and making your own decisions. I had amazing teachers who understood well that my schedule was a little bit tight. The schools were always flexible and made a schedule for me but, like I said, I thank them for all the support they gave me in being a big part of my development.

So how much juggling did you have to do?

It was difficult. When you are out for, I don’t know, 16 days, in a tournament and you come back and you’ve lost so many classes and need to catch the others up as they are a little bit further on than you. The exam will be the same for everyone. It’s not going to be a different exam for me. So I needed to catch up. I had some private classes. For example, just before a game, back in the day, I was in Braga in my home town and I had a game day on the Saturday. So I went to a private class at 8am and did an hour and half there and then went to Porto, played the game and then came back to study for the whole afternoon, just to be ready for the exam on the Monday or Tuesday. It was a difficult time but I had the help of the teachers and, most of all, from my parents. Yes, the exam went well. I always had good marks!

Do you have any memories of playing for the school football team? Were you captain or star player?

We had a couple of tournaments. I don’t know but we called it the students association and they organised some tournaments in school. I was in the fifth grade and we played against the ninth grade and 10th grade but, of course, my class was the best. My help was good for them! We won some tournaments but it was always friendly. We had time to play football and enjoy it with our friends. I think it was just about playing and having fun.