ALISSON BECKER

The Liverpool FC goalkeeper was born in Novo Hamburgo [New Hamburg] in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. It has a population predominantly of German descent, hence Alisson’s surname, and is known as ‘the capital of shoes’ due to a long-standing tradition of footwear manufacturing. Alisson began his career with SC Internacional, based 45km away in Porto Alegre, where he was initially back-up goalkeeper to Muriel Becker, his brother. It was at SC Internacional that Liverpool FC first became aware of Ali after Alexander Doni, a Brazilian goalie who made four appearances for the Reds during season 2011/12, tipped off goalkeeping coach John Achterberg about his potential. “I was looking at Ali already in 2013,” he told the LFC Matchday Programme. “Doni told me to have a look at him and I kept following every time when he was playing, writing reports and when we were going to spend the money I said he is the one we should sign.” Turned out to be a good call! Alisson is now regarded by many as the best goalkeeper on the planet, but there’s something that the Kop wants you to know, the best in the world is…

ROBERTO FIRMINO

Our number nine, give him the ball and he’ll score every time. Si, Senor, give the ball to Bobby and he will score. Has there ever been a better song for a Liverpool FC player? Maybe only the Fernando Torres tune can match it and how much do you miss hearing it ring around Anfield on a matchday? Roberto Firmino was born in Maceió in the state of Alagoas, aka ‘the Brazilian Caribbean’, due to its sandy beaches, glistening clear blue seawater, coconut trees and a tropical climate where anything below 24 degrees is a cold winter’s day. Although he was signed by Brendan Rodgers in 2015, it was Jürgen Klopp who converted Firmino into a number nine and he absolutely thrived with his ability to score and create earning him 111 goals and 73 assists in 362 appearances for the Reds. Nobody played more often under Klopp than Bobby, who was popular with everyone in the LFC dressing-room, and in 2019 he was described by Trent Alexander-Arnold as “the one that makes everything tick, he’s the glue that holds everything together.” A UEFA Champions League and Premier League winner, Firmino also scored a historic goal in 2019 against…

CR FLAMENGO

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo was founded as a rowing club in 1895 before opening a football department in 1911 and it turns out they were pretty good at footy. One of only two clubs never to be relegated from the Brazilian top-flight, CR Flamengo are said to have over 46 million supporters and while they have won seven Brazilian league titles and been Copa Libertadores [South America’s Champions League] winners on three occasions, they regard their greatest achievement as beating Liverpool FC in 1981. First half goals from Nunes (2) and Adìlio earned o Urubu [the Vulture] a 3-0 success against Bob Paisley’s European champions in Tokyo to win the Intercontinental Cup and be crowned as club world champions. In 2019, another victory against the Reds, this time in Doha, would have meant CR Flamengo held the Brazilian league title, Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup at the same time - a rare treble they had never previously achieved - but a goal by Firmino in extra-time gave Liverpool FC a maiden FIFA Club World Cup success. It was a major disappointment for the men from Rio de Janeiro, the birth city of…

PHILIPPE COUTINHO

Signed from Internazionale in January 2013, Philippe Coutinho was a little magician on the ball with his skill and creativity matched by his eye for a pass and his ability to score exceptional goals. He got 54 in 201 appearances for LFC, including five against Manchester City FC, four against Arsenal FC, three in Merseyside derbies and the goal that saw off Manchester United FC at Old Trafford in the 2016 UEFA Europa League. Coutinho also contributed 43 assists and was a key player in both the Liverpool FC side that narrowly missed out on the Premier League title in 2014 and the team that became resurgent under Jürgen Klopp in 2017, only to opt to sign for FC Barcelona in January 2018. The Reds received a reported £106m initial transfer fee, making Coutinho the second most expensive player in the world, and reinvested most of it in signing Alisson and Fabinho six months later. Almost 18 months after leaving, Coutinho returned to Anfield with Barca and was beaten 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg as Liverpool went on to win a sixth European Cup in Madrid. Now aged 32, he is currently on loan from Aston Villa FC at CR Vasco da Gama in his birth city of Rio, which was also home of ex-Reds winger…

HENRY WELFARE

A Scouser who joined Liverpool FC as an amateur in 1912 having been spotted playing for Northern Nomads, Welfare scored once during four appearances in season 1912/13. In the summer of 1913 he turned down the chance to sign professionally and instead moved to Rio to teach mathematics and geography at a school called Ginásio Anglo-Brasileiro. The school’s PE teacher happened to also be a coach at Fluminense FC and invited Welfare to play for them, although it needed a statement from LFC secretary George Patterson to confirm he had never played professionally as football in Brazil was still an amateur game! He went on to score 163 goals in 166 games between 1913 and 1924 as Fluminense FC won a number of trophies and took over as manager of CR Vasco da Gama in 1927, leading them to a league title in 1934 - the second season of Brazil’s top-flight after the game turned professional. Fluminense FC is also the team that Liverpool FC signed goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga, currently on loan at Livingston FC, from and was the first club of former Reds midfielder…

FABINHO

Although he never played for Fluminense FC, Fabinho - aka Fábio Henrique Tavares - was part of the club’s youth set-up before moving to Rio Ave FC in Portugal, who were managed by current Nottingham Forest FC boss Nuno Espírito Santo. After only a month, the defensive midfielder moved to Real Madrid Castilla CF on loan and even made a single first-team appearance for Real Madrid CF under the management of Jose Mourinho, but it was after Fabinho was loaned to AS Monaco FC in 2013 that his career really took off. He spent five seasons in the principality, three of them after signing a permanent deal, and won a Ligue 1 title in 2017. He also earned himself a reputation as a penalty-taking expert versatile enough to play at right-back and centre-half. Jürgen Klopp brought Fabinho to Anfield in 2018 and he established himself as one of the finest defensive midfielders to ever wear the Liver Bird upon his chest, gaining the nickname of ‘the Lighthouse’ from assistant manager Pep Lijnders. Fabinho, who won five major honours and made 211 appearances for LFC, now playing for Saudi Pro-League club Al-Ittihad and was born in Campinas, a municipality in the state of..

SÃO PAULO

Located in Southeast Brazil, with a population of over 44 million São Paolo is the largest state in the country. Plenty of Liverpool FC supporters live there too with the OLSC São Paulo representing all Reds in Brazil. If you ever happen to be in town, O’Malley’s Pub at Alameda Itu, 1529, is the place to watch the Redmen with fellow fans, but don’t mention the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup final. Rafa Benítez’s European Champions travelled to Tokyo for the competition and after defeating Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa 3-0 in the semi-final faced South American champions São Paulo FC in the final. The Brazilians took a first half lead through Mineiro and it was enough to win the game, but only after the Reds had three goals disallowed including a 89th minute Florent Sinama-Pongolle effort that was controversially chalked off for offside against Luis Garica. São Paulo is also where former LFC goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri, who kept four clean sheets in 10 appearances between 2008 and 2010, was born and also in the Reds’ squad at that time was Brazilian left-back…

FÁBIO AURÉLIO

A classy full-back who had won two La Liga titles and the UEFA Cup while playing for Rafa Benítez at Valencia CF, Fábio Aurélio became the first Brazilian to sign for Liverpool FC when he moved to Merseyside in 2006 on a Bosman free transfer. He played at both left-back and in left-midfield during his first season and notably got two assists during a 4-1 win against Arsenal FC, but suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury against PSV Eindhoven in April 2007 that ruled him out of the UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan in Athens. Unfortunately, injuries would hamper Aurélio’s LFC career and while his highlights included stunning free-kick goals in a 4-1 Premier League win against Manchester United FC at Old Trafford and a 4-4 UEFA Champions League draw against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge, only once did São Carlos-born Aurelio make more than 30 appearances during his six seasons at Anfield. He returned to Brazil in 2012 to play for Grémio FBPA, the former club of…

LUCAS LEIVA

Lucas arrived at Liverpool FC from Gremio FBPA - also the club Reds’ future Brazilian loanee Arthur Melo began his career at - in 2007 as a 20-year-old box-to-box midfielder, but he was converted into a defensive midfielder. After initially taking time to win over some of his critics, Lucas became a key player. The departure of Xabi Alonso in 2009 was a blow, but it gave Lucas his chance and by the end of the season he was the fourth most prolific tackler in the Premier League. He also became the first Brazilian to captain Liverpool FC, wearing the armband on 14 occasions in total, and in 2010/11 was named as Standard Chartered Player of the Year during a difficult campaign that saw new manager Roy Hodgson replaced by Sir Kenny Dalglish halfway through the season. Although goals were few and far between during his 346-game LFC career, Lucas did score against Benfica SL in a UEFA Europa League quarter-final and his 19 assists included two in Merseyside derby wins against Everton FC at Anfield in 2016 and 2017 under the management of Jürgen Klopp. In total, Lucas spent a decade at Liverpool FC before signing for SS Lazio who share the Stadio Olimpico with AS Roma, the club that in 2018 sold Klopp a goalkeeper called…

ALISSON BECKER

After keeping 116 clean sheets in his first 270 appearances for Liverpool FC, winning the UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup plus two Premier League Golden Gloves, a Copa America Golden Glove and the Yashin Trophy amongst other numerous personal honours, Alisson has entered the conversation alongside Ray Clemence when it comes to LFC’s greatest ever goalkeeper. He is also the only goalie to have scored for Liverpool FC - his injury-time winner at West Bromwich Albion FC in 2021 one of our most iconic moments of the Premier League era - and his hat-trick of assists for Mo Salah includes goals against Manchester United FC and Manchester City FC at Anfield. But it is Alisson’s ability to produce match-winning interventions - his save from SSC Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik in stoppage-time of the Reds’ final UEFA Champions League group match in 2018/19 one of THE key moments enroute to winning that sixth European Cup in Madrid - that marks Alisson out as one of the true greats. “As a goalkeeper you need to be there for your team,” he said in Alisson! Alisson! Allison! - part of the LFC Icons series of magazines. “A good team starts with a good group, good people, and that's why I focus so much on being the best version of myself to help the team win trophies.” With Alisson Becker in goal, there is always a chance of more silverware…