Pablo Maia had the experience of wearing the Brazilian national team’s shirt for the first time last week, playing in friendlies against England, at Wembley, and Spain, at the Santiago Bernabéu. After the first call-up, the São Paulo midfielder detailed his feeling upon hearing his name on coach Dorival Júnior’s select list.
“I was watching it at home, my fiancée and I. He started saying the names, it made me anxious, I confess, because of all the work I’ve been doing. When he said my name, I stopped, I didn’t know what else to do. It was a great emotion to hear my name mentioned there at the time of the list”, said Pablo Maia in an interview with SPFC Play.
Champion of the 2023 Copa do Brasil with Dorival Júnior, Pablo Maia became one of the coach’s trusted men. At 22 years old, the midfielder has already established himself as one of the main players in this position in national football and is likely to gain even more prominence in the near future, as he has been monitored by European clubs for some time.
“I called them. [família] at the time too, everyone crying with emotion. It didn’t sink in for them to see my name there on the list. It was very important for my mother too, for the warrior she is, for everything she does for me. Being able to enjoy this moment with them is great, a huge happiness,” she continued.
The great moment experienced in recent months is touching for Pablo Maia. Last year, the midfielder lost his father on the eve of the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil, against Palmeiras. Since then, he has won the tournament’s unprecedented title with São Paulo, also become champion of the Supercopa Rei and made it to the Brazilian national team.
“He would be the happiest guy in the world, because he always said that I could get there by working. I think he would be jumping for joy here, really celebrating this moment of mine. Certainly, from where he is, he is very happy with everything that is happening”, concluded Pablo Maia.
