Success is a journey, not a destination, for Yan
It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, goes the adage – and that’s spot on for nineteen-year-old Brazilian player, Yan Santana, whose route to Sacramento for Homeless World Cup 2023 this summer was something of a nail-biter.
Growing up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Yan started playing soccer almost as soon as he could walk, keen to be even a small part of the rich tapestry of Brazilian football. “My number one hero is Neymar,” he enthuses, “he is the guy, he is enough for me!”
One of four brothers and a sister, his parents are separated, and he stresses his childhood growing up in the slums of the east coast Brazilian metropolis was far from the sad story that description might conjure up.
“A lot of people think life in the favela is very dangerous, with violence everywhere all the time, but that’s not my experience,” he assures. “It’s peaceful, people are like everyone else, with hopes and dreams, who want to achieve things in life, which is mostly how life was for me.
“We use another word for favela – comunidade – which means community. A group of people who are in a similar condition and who are there for each other, who help each other out, so it’s not this horrible violent place that people who have never experienced it have in their minds.”
In the favelas, Yan had friends playing for the street soccer organisation. He duly undertook trials and was selected for next phase of national squad selection which was being played in a neighbouring state.
“And I was selected for the Brazil team,” he beams proudly. “I’m really excited to be here and very grateful for the experience and the chance to win the world cup because we’re very focused – although, of course, we are also having a lot of fun.”
“To be able to wear the Brazil shirt feels like I have achieved something already because even to get to Sacramento we had many selection procedures, lots of people were competing for the jersey so I feel so proud to even be here.”
The journey to the California capitol was, however, a whole new other adventure.
“I had my first visa denied,” he explains. “Everyone from street soccer, all my friends and family were campaigning online in social media to overturn the decision and make sure I would be able to take part.
“They were all supporting me. They sent a letter to the American consulate in Brazil to ask for me to have another interview. Things were really taking a long time until, on the day before I was supposed to get on the plane, around midday, I was granted another interview and they asked me what time I had to board the flight – I said it was the next day at 3pm.
“The authorities assured me they would really try to arrange things so that I could go but it would be very tight. At 6pm I heard back that I had actually got the visa – but I was in the state of Rio de Janeiro and had to travel to the state of Sao Paulo.
“I quickly found a bus and got there the next morning around 5am. I hadn’t trained with all the team because they had been together for ten days already. So I trained with the team, for the first time, that morning, we had lunch, and at 3pm we all boarded the plane!”
Though Yan had met the players before, at the final tournament before selection – every single player was from a different team in a different part of Brazil.
“At that point we hadn’t been a team, just a bunch of individual players, and I had to fit in very quickly.
“It feels really good being part of this team and the best part is that we are all here, wearing the yellow jersey, proud to represent our country.”
Image Credits: Dan Higginson
Words: Isobel Irvine