Matheus Cunha’s great hero is Ronaldinho and, like his famous compatriot, he also has an early career connection with Switzerland. Now based in the German capital, the fleet-footed 21-year-old Brazilian has already established himself as an integral element in Hertha Berlin’s forward planning.
Can you please tell us your full name?
“Matheus Santos Carneiro da Cunha.”
You’ve been in the capital now since winter, how would you
describe your time here so far?
“It is a very happy moment for me. I’m happy here, the capital is a great
city, I’m in a great club. I have everything I need here, so I’m very
happy.”
What makes the Bundesliga so special and can you describe your
best experience of the Bundesliga so far?
“I always wanted to play in the Bundesliga, it is a championship that I
follow since I was young, with many Brazilian players and with so much
history. I believe that, if it is not the best, it is among the three, four best
leagues in the world. It’s a league that I’ve always wanted to play and I’m
grateful to God for being here now, so I always want to enjoy the moment
and be able to play my best. The best experience I’ve had here? It’s
difficult, I had beautiful moments with Leipzig, now with Hertha I’ve also
had great moments. It will be difficult to name just one because I have a
few stored in my memory.”
You have an especially interesting story with regards to the derby
against Union Berlin, can you tell us about that?
“Without a doubt, this is the most special moment I had in the Bundesliga.
You reminded me now, I hadn’t completely remembered. But without a
doubt, it was the most special moment I’ve ever had. Being able to play
the derby, I think Germany’s biggest derby, because it has so many
questions related to a football game. I believe it was a very beautiful
moment for me, because we won 4-0, I scored a goal and then rushed to
the hospital before the game was over, to see my baby. Without a doubt it
was the most beautiful moment I had in my career, between football and
life outside the field, it is a moment that will be stored in my memory,
with as much affection as possible.”
Berlin is the capital of Germany, what is your impression of the
city, the football club and the people?
“It’s very good here, I love Berlin, as it is a multicultural city. If there is
something you miss from your culture, you certainly find it here. So it’s an
easy city to adapt to, a place where you can find the things you miss, so
I’m a big fan of Berlin, of Hertha too. I’ve always known the club, because
of the many Brazilians who played here, so I’m very happy to play at the
club, to live in this very good city. I believe that everything is going in the
best way possible here in Berlin.”
You grew up in Brazil, what was your childhood like? Do you have
any brothers or sisters?
“I have always been crazy about football, so I was always playing,
everywhere. I never ran away from school to play football, because my
father is a teacher and my father’s family is full of teachers too, so they
wanted me to be good at school. I always associated studies with football,
even though I wanted to play football all the time, but I was always very
close to my family, I used to do everything with my parents, with my
sister, so they are the ones I miss the most today. But I was a child who
grew up with everything I needed, I never lacked anything, I always had a
lot of good friends, of course, most of them linked to football. So I think it
was a perfect childhood, a childhood full of games, joy, so all I have today
is thanks to what I experienced as a child.”
Is your family still in Brazil or did you bring them to Germany?
“No, I was on my own when I first arrived in Switzerland, because I was
very young at that time. Since then, I met my girlfriend and we are
together here in Germany, today we have a son, so I have built this new
family here. But both my family from Brazil and hers, they come
whenever they can, to give us the support we need, so that we are always
close to the people we love.”
You left your home country in 2017 at the age of 18 and have
played in the Bundesliga since 2018, how do you feel living in
Germany and what is different to your home country?
“Everything. In Brazil, I used to live in Curitiba, a very good city. I’m from
João Pessoa, I love my city, I really like it there, but I believe that Curitiba
is a little more developed than João Pessoa in some aspects, mainly
economically speaking. So when I left Curitiba and came to Europe it was
all very impressive, due to the cold weather, the culture in general, the
language. So I believe that these were the biggest difficulties I faced, but
thank God my adaptation was very easy. So those are the main
differences in relation to Brazil, things I no longer have here, but today I
am very used to life in Europe. Without a doubt, Brazil has its qualities
that no other place in the world has, but we try to forget the things we
miss and focus on work in the best possible way.”
Brazil is known as the Land of Football having produced players
like Pele, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and now Neymar. Are any
of these your idols? Who do you most admire and why?
“Without a doubt, Ronaldinho Gaúcho. He’s my idol, he was the player I
followed since I was a kid. I used to watch him do those magical things.
Later, when I was older, I used to go to YouTube to look for videos, to see
his amazing skills. But without a doubt, today Brazil’s biggest idol is
Neymar. I was very young when he started, so I followed him a lot as he
became an idol for all of us. But of course, I have others, Robinho,
Ronaldo Fenômeno… As you said, we are the country of football, so we
have some great players who are our source of inspiration.”
You’re playing for a club which has been graced with a number of
Brazilian legends in its history, Alex Alves and Marcelinho, for
example. Are these players role models for you?
“Without a doubt, for all the history, because of the fact they arrived in
Europe and won here, there is this very beautiful history with the club that
I am playing today. Undoubtedly, it serves as an example, so that we can
forge our own path and can also remain in memory as they are today.”
What do you hope to achieve with Hertha Berlin?
“I always have big goals. I play football because I love it, that’s what I like
to do the most, so I always put a lot of love on the pitch, because that’s
what I do not just for work, but for love. My goals are always very high,
despite knowing all the difficulties we have, the obstacles that we may
encounter along the way. But I always dream big and I want to fight for
big things with Hertha. Today I am happy to be in a big club, to be able to
give joy to the fans, I want to always try to be at the top of the Bundesliga table, to achieve great things in the Cup too. What I want is togive joy to the fans, the club and the people of Hertha.”
Marcelinho and Alex Alves both scored a lot of goals for the club,
many of which were superb goals. Is it a strength of yours and is it
important to you to score great goals?
“I will never score a beautiful goal thinking of making it beautiful. I want
to help my team. But God has helped me and I have always put a lot of
work in the field and scored these goals after a lot of work. But everything
is thanks to my teammates, thanks to the people who help me, so I hope
to continue with this characteristic of making beautiful goals – and not
only for the goals, but to be able to help Hertha and my teammates and
thus keep growing.”
Your coach, Bruno Labbadia, used to be an outstanding striker.
How can he help you get better? What’s his philosophy and how do
you find him?
“He is a great coach, very demanding, who wants the maximum from the
players. I’m like that too, I try to do my best all the time and sometimes I
get a little upset because I am not able to deliver my best. But I believe
that he comes to add, to bring his experiences and help us, not only as
the great coach he is, but as the great striker he was. He can cite
examples and pass on experiences he has lived on the field, so this can
help us. We always want to learn from those who have lived great things,
so without a doubt we can learn a lot from him.”
He managed to score 28 goals in the second league with Arminia
Bielefeld and that made him top scorer, how many goals are you
aiming for in your first full season with Hertha?
“28, wow! It’s a lot of goals, without any doubt. How many goals do I
want to score this season? I never start a season thinking about scoring
goals, I only think about helping my team, to grow professionally, as a
player and, as I said, to grow together with Hertha. But if my goals are
important for the team, I will try to score as much as I can, so that we
can always win the matches. But of course, scoring is always nice, it’s
always good to have that feeling of scoring a goal.”
Competition in attack at Hertha is very strong with players like
Lukebakio and Piątek. What makes you different?
“I believe that we have a great team, a team that can go further and fight
for great things. So we always think about working as much as possible,
knowing that it is the coach who will decide who will play. But everyone
wants to do their best, everyone wants to show the best to be able to
have a place in the team. I am no different, I always want to give my
best, regardless of the other players with whom I am competing for a
position. So I want to do everything to have a place in the team and to be
able to grow with my teammates.”
How strong do you think the team is and what are your aims for
the season?
“Hertha’s strength? Hertha has always been very strong, it’s a great club,
a very traditional club from Germany, so I think today we have a little
more… investments, so it would be good that these investments could
bring results on the field, so that we can play at our best and be a great
team, as we were at the end of the season, so that we can build and fight
for great things. I believe this is our goal for this year, to fight for great
things and, God willing, we will make it.”
Which player do you enjoy playing with the most and who is the
best player you’ve ever played with?
“It’s a very difficult question, I only have three years as a professional. I
had great teammates in my career, thank God, players who helped me a
lot and made me grow. I cannot name just one, it is very difficult, I get
along with many, I love playing with them, I feel good exchanging
passes.”
You’ve always had strong very good teammates but who has stood
out?
“Examples? But it is very difficult to say. When the last season ended, I
was enjoying playing with Ibisevic, today it is very good to play with
Piątek on my side, with Lukebakio too. I’ve always been among great
players, just like at Leipzig, where I played for a long time with great
players. So it is impossible to name just one, but those who helped me, it
will always be special to play with them.”
