Matheus Pereira published, this Thursday, an extensive open letter on the portal The Players' Tribune, in which he revealed the difficult life he had been through, since 'tender' age, when his mother brought him from Brazil to Portugal, in search of a better life.

The now Cruzeiro player took his first steps in the football world at Trafaria, "on the other side of the Tejo river", before José Meirelles, "a scout", took him to Sporting, the "most unlikely place possible": "I spent two years at Sporting just training. I couldn't play in the competitions, because I was an illegal immigrant".

"It's an uncomfortable condition, that of fear and insecurity. On the other hand, I was an illegal immigrant who just wanted to have fun at a club that was believing in me. Mainly, because I was bursting in training, playing a lot, confirming that the scout's eye was really good", he began by saying.

"The situation at home was not going well. A while after signing with Sporting, my parents separated, and I had to move again. Now, alone. I went to live in the training center, and almost lost everything. Since the times with my deaf and mute grandmother I felt a great dissatisfaction within me", he continued.

"A rebellion that I didn't know where it came from, a need to challenge, disobey, a restlessness that consumed me. Living in the training center, once again, with no one to look after me or talk to me about important things, I went to play on the edge of the abyss", he added.

That's when he started using drugs: "I joined the marijuana circle and spent a lot, a lot of time high. I also drank a lot and spent the money I had left on ballads. Then, I felt like a rag, a wretch. I blamed myself in an unbearable way when I imagined my parents' sadness if they knew".

"There in Alcochete, where I had some 'friends', Friday was our day to put our foot in the trap. At the end of the afternoon, we would gather in a corner, and I was in charge of rolling the joint. That made me feel like the guy, strong, knowing all the answers. There was a Friday when I rolled the joint, passed it on, and when it came back to me, I looked at the whole scene around me and it gave me a deal", he recalled.

"I think it was the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear... 'No. Today, I don't want drugs', I said to the guys, who made fun of me. 'Tomorrow, there's a game against Benfica, and I want to play well'. They laughed. The next day, I finished the game and was drawn to go to the doping test. Imagine! If it had been any other game of the season, it would have been a mess", he concluded.

It was then that "Sporting lost patience", and decided to loan him to Desportivo de Chaves, where, under the orders of Portuguese coach Luís Castro, currently at the service of Al Nassr, he would end up 'straightening' his career.

Also Read: 'Half an hour at Sporting'. The phenomenon cooked by Rúben Amorim (Portuguese version)