Brazilian footballer was struggling to feed his wife and daughter and contemplating killing himself when a call changed his life

Maybe Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and James Rodríguez do not have any idea where exactly their Puskas Award given by Fifa is these days. For them the trophy is just one more to go in the cabinet which already has the Champions League medals and many other more important prizes. But this is not the case for Wendell Lira, who won the Fifa prize for the best goal of the year in 2015, his twisting bicycle kick for Goianesia in their match against Atletico-GO beating a Lionel Messi goal for Barcelona into second place. Lira says the Puskas Award saved his life.

Before being nominated Lira was living a dilemma. He was unemployed and did not know how to find money to feed his wife and daughter. As a lower league player he was part of the terrible statistic in Brazil, where 82% of footballers earn less than $250 a month.

Only 60 Brazilian clubs have a full calendar for the whole year, meaning that for six months many do not have any contract and do not receive money.

I was suffering a huge pressure because I was unemployed, without perspective​. I couldn’t see me in the mirror

That was the life of Lira in September 2015. Without money he decided he would kill himself. He got in his car and started to drive as fast as possible for two hours. He thought he would try to crash into a truck. “I didn’t have money to pay for milk for my daughter,” Lira recalls. “I was suffering a huge pressure because I was unemployed, without perspective. I couldn’t see me in the mirror.”

He spent two hours crying and trying to be brave enough to drive the car in front of a truck.

But Lira did not. Two days later he was shortlised by Fifa as one of 10 nominees for the best goal of 2015. His life changed completely. “I had to turn off my mobile because it was impossible to attend to everyone,” laughs Lira. “It was weird. The whole world was calling me.”

One of the calls was from Neto, a former Brazil international, and another from a company offering Lira a suit to attend Fifa’s ceremony in Zurich. He accepted both. During the party his wife, Ludmila, was also there and asked him: “Look there. Isn’t that the little boy that you play in video games?”

The “little boy” was Luka Modric. Lira met Modric, introduced by his Real Madrid teammate Marcelo, and then, finally, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wendell Lira takes part in the Boot of the World event at Beira-Rio Stadium on in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2016. Photograph: Naian Meneghetti/LatinContent/Getty Images

“Cristiano is my idol. I love everything that he does,” he says. “When I had my first serious injury, I tried to be like Cristiano. Because he is very focused. I didn’t see him become angry with any situation. He always works hard. I was always a big fan but after the ceremony I became even more. He was wonderful with me.”

E-games are not a hobby to Lira. He is addicted. Once again, he was lucky enough to discover one more ability. During Fifa’s ceremony, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo were invited to play a virtual match against the global winner of the Fifa game, Abdulaziz Alsheria, from Saudi Arabia. All of them refused.

As a last option, Lira was asked if he would like to step in. At first he refused because he felt it “would be shameful to play against the best player in the world”. But he eventually accepted and, playing with Real Madrid against Barcelona, won the match 6-1. “I didn’t know how good I was,” he remembers.

When Lira went back to Brazil, he signed a contract with Vila Nova, a club in the Second National Division. With knee problems, at 27 years old, after playing for 11 clubs, including Goiás, URT and Fortaleza, he decided to retire from football six months later to become a gamer and YouTuber.

It had always been his dream to be called up for a World Cup but his only experience for the Brazil team was the Sendai Cup, in Japan, 12 years ago, where he was a member of a team that included future internationals Alexandre Pato and Willian. In January 2018 he was invited by Radio Sagres 730, from Brazil, to be a commentator in Russia for the 2018 tournament.

But on his first day in Moscow, Lira had a nightmare. He had an entry-visa problem and did not know what to do. He doesn’t speak English and in the immigration area no one tried to help him. Alone for five hours, the Brazilian was getting desperate and was afraid he would have to go back home, when the Puskas Award saved him again.

“Puskas? Puskas?” someone shouted. “Yes, yes! Puskas!” he replied. It was one of few words in English that he knows. At that point Lira was allowed to enter Russia. “I have no words about how the Puskas Award changed my life,” he says.

“It’s not easy to go to a different country where you have no idea even [how] to read a letter. I was almost crying … It was lucky a Russian man recognised me and came to my rescue.”

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• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.