Pato doesn’t think about returning to football until the middle of the year: ‘Focus on family’

The striker ended the season after playing in 10 matches and scoring two goals. São Paulo then decided not to renew the contract.

In January of this year, Pato celebrated the birth of his son Benjamin, the result of his marriage to Rebeca Abravanel.

My son is two months old, so I’m enjoying this wonderful moment and it’s something I won’t forget. Football is fleeting, so this moment for me, for my family, is the most important.
Alexandre Pato

Pato is not playing football, but he remains close to the sport. Now, the athlete is having fun with his new passion: tennis. The practice intensified during the pandemic and showed the player a life beyond football.

“I love tennis and since I started playing, I didn’t wish I had gone back to playing football, because I really fell in love with it. I got to know another side of footballer’s life, and it was cool. I left home when I was 11 and I live football until today, but in the middle of this period of my career, I understood that there was another life outside, because I was always focused on football”, said Pato.

“Sometimes the player gets focused and forgets that he has a life outside, because you live a lot in the media, you live a lot in this more closed world of football. And then, when I found tennis, I said: ‘man, this is so good'”, he added.