Together with his mother Filomena and his little brother Pedro, 18-year-old João Cancelo was in the car on the way home from the airport in Portugal, where the family had just released their father Joseph. It was nearly half past two in the morning, and the two sons had long since fallen asleep in the back seat. Then it hit. Incredibly, the two brothers escaped the car accident with minor injuries, but their mother, Filomena, died that night. Two devastated and shocked sons sat behind. – Only I know what my brother and I went through. When my mother died it was not an illness, it was nothing, it was a simple car accident. And my brother and I were there and saw it. As I often say, my mother saw me born and I saw my mother pass away, says Cancelo himself about the tragic event. – At the bottom of a well Death fell hard on him. It took over a month before the 18-year-old was able to leave the house. Although Benfica, for whom he played at the time, offered him support and psychological help, he was so down that he just wanted to give up football altogether. – When I lost my mother, I felt like I was at the bottom of a well. I felt like a robot who had to do his job, then go home, and repeat this day in, day out. I didn’t like football anymore, I played because I had to. I really considered giving up because it didn’t make sense anymore, says the defender today. João Cancelo is still affected by what happened in 2013. Photo: MASSIMO PINCA / Reuters Due to unemployment in Portugal, his father Joseph had to move to Switzerland to earn money to support the family, while his mother worked in three different places to get ends to meet. Therefore, Cancelo and his brother spent a lot of time with their grandparents even before the fatal accident occurred. Wanted to give up football And it was a serious talk with his father Joseph that saved his further investment in his football career. – My father let things calm down, then he spoke to me. He said that both he and my brother needed me, they needed me to have the strength to continue because my father had to stay in Portugal, he couldn’t go back to Switzerland anymore, says João Cancelo. When his mother died, João was 18 and had already signed a professional contract with Benfica. The family depended on the money from football to keep their heads above water. – So I decided to play again. At first it wasn’t easy, I had no strength, no desire, but that conversation with my father and the love I have for this sport made me overcome everything, he says. He made his debut for Benfica’s A team in 2014, the year after his mother’s death. João Cancelo has become a profile in the Premier League. Here with Bernardo Silva. Photo: LAURENCE GRIFFITHS / AFP His talent was quickly noticed even outside the national borders, and since then he has visited Valencia, Inter and Juventus before Pep Guardiola brought him to Manchester City in 2019. In England, he has become a strong contributor to City’s success, and in the previous two seasons he has become league champion with Erling Braut Haaland’s club. – The person I admire most The strong relationship with his mother is also clearly visible on the Portuguese’s social media. There he rounds off his posts with the same subject tag: #Mommyblessme. – The values they instilled in me, both my mother and my father, are humility, love, dedication and commitment. My mother is the person I admire the most in this world. I apologize to my father, I know he won’t take it personally, but my mother is more like me, he says. Cancelo thinks a lot about his mother not getting to experience his success. – Today I can have everything I want, and everything my mother and I always dreamed of. I always told her that I would give her a house, a car and make every one of her dreams come true. Today I have everything, but I don’t have her. There is a missing part of me and an emptiness inside me, and there is nothing I can do to change that, he sighs. – But while I’m here alive, I always want to show her that her son is healthy, strong and continues to fight for his goals in life. I want to succeed in everything I do, to show my mother that she can be proud of the son she left behind, he adds. João Cancelo is a fixture on the Portugal team that reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar. Photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP Every time he is back in his home country, he always takes a trip to the cemetery where his mother is buried. He sees it as an obligation, but also as a form of mental health. – That’s where I feel good, next to her. Even though she is not there physically, I feel good. It cleanses my soul, my bad energy, and helps me live happier, he says about the cemetery visits. – An inexplicable love Today, João Cancelo has started his own family. He is engaged to Daniela Machado, whom he has been with since 2011, and on Christmas Eve 2019 they had a daughter, Alicia. – I thought that nothing would ever surpass the love I had for my mother, but then my daughter was born, and it is an inexplicable love. The best thing after a hard and tiring day at work is coming home and getting a hug and a kiss from your daughter. – Some things are just priceless. No matter how much money we make and no matter how good our quality of life is, the best thing in life are the little moments our children give us. I just want to see her healthy. I am working hard today so that she can have a future and live peacefully. I don’t want her to go through the difficult times that my parents and I did, he says. João Cancelo is engaged to Daniela Machado and has started a family. Photo: Screen dump / https://www.instagram.com/jpcancelo/ Manchester City play against Leeds on Wednesday evening at 9pm. As usual, you can follow the match in news’s live center for football. Sources: ESPN, mancity.com, Sports Illustrated.
