Philippe Coutinho is a Brazilian footballer who now plays for the Spanish team, FC Barcelona. Thanks to his brilliant performances with Liverpool, El Barca was interested in bringing this Gemini man to Camp Nou.
Philippe Coutinho Correia was born on June 12, 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was born to Jose Carlos Correia and Esmeralda Coutinho. Coutinho is the third child of the couple. He grew up in a small village in the City of Rio.
Coutinho was born into a family that was very mediocre. His parents were often overwhelmed to make money. However, for the sake of survival, anything was done to still be able to eat despite their poverty.
Since childhood, Coutinho has shown interest in football. He often saw his two brothers, Cristiano and Leandro played football with his friends.
However, Coutinho was still very embarrassed to play and join with his peers. He claimed that he was not confident if he had to play with others. Until finally, his grandmother urged Countinho’s father to develop his children’s talents in a more secure place.
Initially, Coutinho only played football on the futsal court. He continued to sharpen his skills on a field smaller than a real football field. After playing futsal for a long time, Coutinho’s talent was caught by the coach of the Vasco da Gama youth team.
After having talks with his parents and doing a little trial, finally, Coutinho was willing to join and officially become a young player in the local club.
Together with Vasco de Gama, Coutinho continued to display his attractive games until he was finally summoned by the Brazilian National Team U15.
Knowing the talents of Coutinho, Inter Milan are interested in recruiting him. In 2008, with a dowry of around 4 million euros, Coutinho officially joined Inter Milan at the age of 16.
Despite being an Inter player, Coutinho was loaned to Vasco da Gama for two years. This was due to the Italian football regulations which required all clubs to have no foreign players under 18 joining them.
Coutinho increasingly developed his performance with Vasco da Gama. He even successfully brought his team to win the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B in 2009. Coutinho became a key player by shooting 5 goals in 31 appearances.
Coutinho was also included in the Brazilian championship squad which won the U17 South American Cup in the same year.
Because of his prowess in playing the ball. He got the nickname “the magician”. Of course, this nickname came from his special talent.
After his contract period at Vasco da Gama was over, he rushed to Inter Milan. He went on to debut with La Beneamata on August 27, 2010.
Meanwhile, in October 2010, Coutinho made his debut with the Brazil Senior Team.
Because he felt that he gave less contribution to the team, Coutinho was sent by Inter to Espanyol. At Espanyol, Coutinho admitted that he felt more comfortable.
In 2012, Coutinho held a marriage with his beloved woman named Aine. Aine turned out to be Coutinho’s lover from a long time ago and they have been dating for quite a long time.
After his contract at Espanyol was over, Coutinho returned to Inter Milan. However, because he felt unlucky with Inter, Coutinho then accepted a contract offer by the English club, Liverpool, on January 30, 2013.
Along with Liverpool, he debuted on February 11 against West Bromwich Albion. It did not take a long time for this Brazilian man to score his first goal for the Reds Liverpool on February 17 when Liverpool managed to destroy Swansea City with a score of 5-0
A month later, Coutinho managed to win the award on the best Liverpool player and successfully won the man of the match award against Newcastle United. At that time, Liverpool managed to win with a score of 6-0.
Coutinho continued to play nicely with Liverpool. And in 2015, Coutinho extended his contract in Liverpool until 2020.
In the same year, he won the PFA Player of the Month award and made it into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
On May 19, 2015, Coutinho won the award on the best Liverpool player.
Because of his great achievements with Liverpool, Coutinho was included in the Brazilian squad that happened in the Copa America 2015. He opened his debut goal with the Brazilian national team when dealing with Mexico. At that time the Samba team won 2-0.
His experience of playing at Liverpool was very impressive. Along with his success, Coutinho always reminded himself of his mother. His mother who always encouraged him to move forward had succeeded in forming an extraordinary character of Coutinho.
Even there was one time when the former Liverpool coach, Brendan Rodgers, read a letter from Coutinho’s mother in front of all Liverpool players. This was a tactic that Rodgers used to motivate his players.
In the 2017/18 season of the European Champion League group phase, Coutinho carried out the mandate as a team captain because Jordan Henderson was absent.
Besides having his first experience as a captain, Coutinho managed to score three goals at once in the same match. At that time Liverpool managed to subvert the resistance of Spartak Moscow with a score of 7-0.
Despite extending his contract at Liverpool, Coutinho became faltered. He accepted the offer of the Spanish club, FC Barcelona on 6 January 2018. He made his debut when Barcelona against Espanyol. Both teams met in the Copa Del Rey event.
Apart from wanting to join FC Barcelona very much, another reason behind his intention to leave the Catalans was because of Luis Suarez.
Coutinho has a very good relationship with Luis Suarez. He claimed that Suarez was one of his reasons why he wanted to join Barcelona.
Together with Barcelona, Coutinho became one of the important pillars of the strong team in winning various matches.
