Firmino childhood story will melt your heart

This childhood story about Liverpool star Roberto Firmino will melt your heart in seconds.

Widely followed Twitter account Seleção Brasileira reported from an interview with Firmino’s old school teacher, who revealed that the forward suffered from alarming poverty as a youngster.

According to the tweets, the Anfield star barely had enough food in the house – which also suffered from a lack of electricity. Apparently he was football obsessed, which has clearly helped drive Firmino towards bigger and better things.

The 26-year-old was born in Maceió, on the east-coast of Brazil. It has a population of around 996,733 and its local economy is driven from natural resources that include the production of sugar and ethanol.

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Firmino started his career playing for Figueirense, who are based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. From there, scouts from German side Hoffenheim liked what they saw and persuaded the side to part with €4 million to sign the attacker.

Thanks to 49 goals and 36 assists in 153 games, Liverpool came calling in 2015 and paid around £41 million for the player. Since then Firmino has worked incredibly hard to ensure that his family never has to experience his humble roots, and during those few years has scored 50 goals and created 39 others in 144 appearances.

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Firmino isn’t the first South American striker to come from very poor beginnings and play for the Reds. Luis Suarez emerged from the dust of Montevideo, where he once couldn’t play a game because his family couldn’t afford shoes, to light up Merseyside with his brilliance and never-say-die attitude.

And it can be these roots that drive footballers to want success more than their sometime pampered peers. It can definitely be seen in Suarez’s desire to win at all costs, and if you want to delve into that further you have to read this brilliant ESPN article on the striker.

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But if you want to see Firmino in action again, tune into Brazil’s last 16 World Cup clash with Mexico on Monday.