From the football field to life | Paulo Cesar Fonseca do Nascimento Tinga | TEDxLaçadorSalon
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0:07 - 0:08Good morning.
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0:10 - 0:14I'll try to tell you what I think,
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0:14 - 0:19what I believe led me
to be here this morning -
0:19 - 0:22speaking to you at TEDx,
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0:22 - 0:24which is of great importance
to the whole world. -
0:25 - 0:29On a February night in 2014,
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0:29 - 0:32in Peru, in a small city,
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0:34 - 0:35in a football game
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0:35 - 0:38where I was playing for Cruzeiro
in the Libertadores Cup -
0:38 - 0:42upon entering the field
for the second half, -
0:42 - 0:44every time I saw the ball
coming towards me -
0:44 - 0:46and I got the ball,
-
0:46 - 0:49I heard a monkey sound, and well ...
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0:50 - 0:54This was increasing
every minute of the game. -
0:54 - 1:01Since we were losing the game, we were
tuned into the tension of the match. -
1:01 - 1:03Since it was an important match,
-
1:03 - 1:06I didn't even sense what was happening.
-
1:06 - 1:09This wasn't the first time
that it had happened; -
1:09 - 1:14we were getting used to it
and were overcoming all that. -
1:15 - 1:19There was only a little time left
before the end of game. -
1:19 - 1:22I was on the sideline
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1:22 - 1:27when the match ended, and the press
was already on the border of the field. -
1:27 - 1:29The press came in my direction,
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1:29 - 1:32and I was imagining that they
would talk about the result -
1:32 - 1:34because we had lost the game.
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1:34 - 1:39In my head, I was ready
with a quick response -
1:39 - 1:45because football questions
are normally all the same, -
1:45 - 1:47so the answers are also all the same.
-
1:47 - 1:49(Laughter)
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1:50 - 1:54So I had the answers ready. Easy, right?
-
1:54 - 1:57I thought that they would ask,
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1:57 - 2:01"Why did you lose?",
"Why didn't you score?" -
2:01 - 2:05So I was ready with all those answers.
-
2:05 - 2:09And to my surprise -
this was only the three to five seconds -
2:09 - 2:11after the game was finished,
it was very quick - -
2:11 - 2:16the question was different than all those
I had ever heard at the end of a game. -
2:17 - 2:19The question was the following:
-
2:19 - 2:21they asked me what I felt
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2:21 - 2:25or how I felt
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2:25 - 2:27after having won so many titles,
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2:27 - 2:30played in so many countries,
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2:30 - 2:33to be suffering that act of racism
or racial insult - -
2:33 - 2:35I don't remember very well how he spoke -
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2:35 - 2:37in a neighbor country to ours.
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2:37 - 2:39And that question surprised me
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2:39 - 2:43because, as I said, I assumed
it would be the usual question. -
2:43 - 2:48And that surprised me,
and I was not prepared with an answer. -
2:48 - 2:50I seized that opportunity.
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2:50 - 2:52As I didn't have an answer,
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2:52 - 2:59I seized the opportunity when he spoke
of achievements and titles -
2:59 - 3:02that I had won in my career.
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3:02 - 3:07And I simply said
that I would trade all my titles -
3:07 - 3:09for racial and social equality, anyway ...
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3:09 - 3:12That is what I said,
but it was real quick. -
3:13 - 3:15At the end, I went to the locker room,
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3:15 - 3:16took a shower ...
-
3:16 - 3:21There was no cell phone reception
in the stadium; the city was underserved. -
3:21 - 3:24The reception was very weak
at the hotel, too. -
3:24 - 3:28I arrived at the hotel and it was already
late here in Brazil, it was one o'clock. -
3:28 - 3:32I grabbed the telephone
and, as was my practice, I called home. -
3:32 - 3:36When I called home, my family,
my wife, my children, -
3:36 - 3:40everyone was asking
what had happened and how I was. -
3:40 - 3:44I said, "I'm okay,
we lost the game, right? -
3:44 - 3:46I'm upset, but it's the way it goes.
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3:46 - 3:48Sports are like this,
you win, you lose ..." -
3:48 - 3:51I thought it was about this
that they were asking. -
3:51 - 3:55My family said, "No, this that happened,"
and such, and I wasn't aware of anything! -
3:57 - 4:02There was no internet, nothing
in the room, the situation was precarious. -
4:02 - 4:08Then they said, "No, it's coming out
on all the websites all over the world, -
4:08 - 4:14the country's president talked
about it, our president too, -
4:15 - 4:19and various athletes across the world,
many people are talking about this issue." -
4:19 - 4:24I was worried because I am a guy
that doesn't like much the media thing, -
4:24 - 4:30I always liked to be valued only
for my work, for my accomplishments. -
4:30 - 4:32I don't like this thing of -
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4:32 - 4:34So it started to frighten me.
-
4:34 - 4:40I went downstairs to talk with
the press agent about what was happening, -
4:40 - 4:43and when I arrived, there were
many people in the reception area, -
4:43 - 4:48press from all the places
that were covering the game. -
4:48 - 4:51I went upstairs fast, he came to my room,
"Look, people want to talk to you." -
4:51 - 4:55I said, "No, I have nothing to say.
-
4:55 - 4:58Tell them that I am sleeping,
that I'm going to sleep, or something." -
5:00 - 5:03And when I woke up the next day,
we caught the flight, arrived in Brazil, -
5:03 - 5:06and the thing continued, even bigger.
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5:06 - 5:12And that frightened me because I didn't
want to see my name spinning like that. -
5:12 - 5:15Of course, I didn't look for that.
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5:15 - 5:18What I did was simply
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5:18 - 5:21give an answer like anyone
unprepared for the issue would, -
5:21 - 5:23but it was an answer
that came from my heart. -
5:23 - 5:29I think that in every battle,
in every war, or whatever, -
5:29 - 5:32the only solution for me is in love.
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5:32 - 5:36So, that's what I said, that I would trade
all my titles for equality. -
5:36 - 5:40That was what came to my mind,
and I seized that opportunity, -
5:40 - 5:43And the thing started to be
talked about more and more, -
5:43 - 5:47and then my phone rang.
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5:47 - 5:50It was Dinorah and Manuel,
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5:50 - 5:54who are representatives of CUFA,
Central Única das Favelas. -
5:54 - 5:58We've set up a few
football projects together, -
5:58 - 6:02so, we were already partners
in other activities, -
6:02 - 6:06and we talked about -
-
6:07 - 6:08because the thing was so big -
-
6:08 - 6:12creating a campaign, a project, something,
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6:12 - 6:16and we started to talk about names,
about what could be done ... -
6:16 - 6:19I remember that, out of the various
names being considered, -
6:19 - 6:22one was "Chutando o Racismo,"
"Kicking Racism," -
6:22 - 6:26as we were talking about that,
and the World Cup was coming up. -
6:27 - 6:28We reached a conclusion.
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6:28 - 6:33I thought the name should be "Chutando
o Preconceito," "Kicking Prejudice," -
6:33 - 6:37and they immediately agreed
because there was this idea, -
6:37 - 6:42that we should talk not only
about racism, but all types of prejudice, -
6:42 - 6:49because I believe that when I am lecturing
and talking about prejudice, -
6:49 - 6:54I don't need to talk about what I suffered
or what I am going to suffer -
6:54 - 6:58for the color of my skin, or for my hair,
-
6:58 - 7:01just as I believe also that when we
are talking about a disabled person, -
7:01 - 7:03someone in a wheelchair
or an obese person, -
7:03 - 7:06we don't need to talk
about what they have suffered -
7:06 - 7:10or are going to suffer from their problem.
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7:10 - 7:15With our eyes, we can see
and imagine many things, -
7:15 - 7:20and all of us have
a little prejudice in our hearts. -
7:20 - 7:24Both the black and the white,
anyway, we have it. -
7:24 - 7:29What I try to convey is that we first
accept that we have this, -
7:29 - 7:31and then try to evolve, to improve.
-
7:32 - 7:35And then we created the project
"Kicking Prejudice." -
7:35 - 7:39The project's first action
was at Shopping Total. -
7:39 - 7:45We did a really cool activity,
many participated, influential people, -
7:45 - 7:48both from football and the media.
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7:48 - 7:52And this ended up running all over Brazil
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7:52 - 7:57where I gave 16 lectures in 2014.
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7:57 - 8:01I didn't give more because
I was playing and didn't have time. -
8:02 - 8:06Many of these lectures used
a question-and-answer model, -
8:09 - 8:13and what surprised me a lot
was that each time I lectured, -
8:13 - 8:16there were always some repeated questions,
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8:16 - 8:21about how I overcame it,
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8:21 - 8:24how I had the calmness
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8:24 - 8:29to overcome or live with it and be calm.
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8:29 - 8:32Because it wasn't the first time
that this happened to an athlete, -
8:32 - 8:37this has already happened many times,
especially in Europe, it happens nonstop, -
8:37 - 8:40and in the majority of cases,
athletes, whether entitled or not, -
8:40 - 8:43react to it in a different way.
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8:43 - 8:46Many leave the football field,
many throw their shirt, -
8:46 - 8:49many react by cursing the fan.
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8:50 - 8:53I believe that each one reacts in one way,
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8:53 - 8:57and the way that I reacted was
that I only gave a short sentence, -
8:57 - 9:03but I think that this is what made
a difference and an impact. -
9:03 - 9:10So they asked this a lot, how I,
as a person, had reacted like this. -
9:10 - 9:14I couldn't say why I reacted in this way
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9:14 - 9:17without talking about my life
-
9:17 - 9:23because we don't do anything
for which we are not prepared. -
9:23 - 9:26My preparation, my base -
-
9:26 - 9:29I always say that I had a very good base.
-
9:29 - 9:33I will explain to you about
my family base which was very good, -
9:33 - 9:37a base in which I was raised
practically by my mother alone. -
9:37 - 9:42When I was seven, my father abandoned us,
it was just my older sister and me. -
9:43 - 9:47A base where my mother
left for work at 7 a.m. -
9:47 - 9:50and came back home at 6 p.m.
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9:50 - 9:57This is one of the things
that I remember most, -
9:57 - 10:01that my mother, when Friday,
Saturday and Sunday arrived, -
10:01 - 10:05mainly Friday and Saturday,
as she worked at a club, -
10:05 - 10:08there would be parties,
dancing, at the club, -
10:08 - 10:11so she worked extra hours.
-
10:11 - 10:14And that was an extra source of income.
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10:14 - 10:18I remember that I liked to play football,
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10:18 - 10:21I arrived at 6 p.m. at home
and my mother said, -
10:21 - 10:25"Son, don't make any noise because I have
to go out again at 10 p.m. to work." -
10:25 - 10:30There were three short hours that she had
to sleep and to return to work -
10:30 - 10:32because she worked all night.
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10:32 - 10:34So this is the base that I have,
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10:34 - 10:38and the memory that I have
of childhood is a memory of work, -
10:38 - 10:40that I arrived at home,
-
10:40 - 10:45my mother had just arrived from work
and was already resting to work again. -
10:45 - 10:49I woke up in the morning and she arrived
at seven, eight o'clock in the morning, -
10:49 - 10:51bringing something different,
-
10:51 - 10:56maybe something to eat
that I hadn't had all week. -
10:56 - 10:59So, in my head, I imagined
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10:59 - 11:03that work, honesty, her discipline
to the schedule that she kept, -
11:03 - 11:07sleeping just a bit to then leave again,
this brought good things. -
11:07 - 11:11I would wake up in the morning
and stay at the window waiting. -
11:11 - 11:14She would come carrying bags
and I would run to get them. -
11:14 - 11:19I was growing up imagining that work
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11:19 - 11:22and meeting schedules was a good thing
-
11:22 - 11:25because when I asked for sneakers
or something, she said, -
11:25 - 11:29"This week I will work longer
so I can buy the sneakers." -
11:29 - 11:34So the base that I had was of work,
of honesty, of keeping a schedule. -
11:34 - 11:37And these were things
that I carried into my career, -
11:37 - 11:43since I arrived in Grêmio, at 15.
-
11:43 - 11:47I always say that I was educated
inside of sports, -
11:47 - 11:52and, for this reason, I strongly encourage
all schools that have sports, music, -
11:52 - 11:56or whatever thing that teaches discipline
and maintaining schedules. -
11:59 - 12:02I ended up carrying this
through my entire life, -
12:02 - 12:06so I always tell people
-
12:07 - 12:09that having a schedule,
a work schedule, was my base. -
12:09 - 12:11Why do I say this?
-
12:11 - 12:16Because I see a lot
of people taking a stand -
12:16 - 12:20and, sometimes, even using as an excuse
the fact that they had no base, -
12:20 - 12:23that they've been raised
only by their mother, or by their father, -
12:23 - 12:27and that was what they lacked.
-
12:27 - 12:33I don't see this, I can say that my mother
raised me alone with a good base, -
12:33 - 12:35and she was working,
practically the entire day. -
12:35 - 12:40So truly, as we've discussed here,
we choose our destiny, -
12:40 - 12:44we choose what we want
to take by example. -
12:45 - 12:48I could very well use this as an excuse,
-
12:48 - 12:53I was raised by my mother and practically
didn't see her, only saw her at night, -
12:53 - 12:54and could use this as an excuse
-
12:54 - 13:01and become a person without objectives,
without focus, without a profession. -
13:02 - 13:04And many people say,
"Oh, but he was lucky." -
13:04 - 13:07I did have much luck,
-
13:07 - 13:11and every time that luck found me,
it found me working. -
13:11 - 13:13This was the great luck that I had.
-
13:13 - 13:16When luck came to me,
it always found me doing something. -
13:16 - 13:19I was always working, waiting for it.
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13:19 - 13:24This is the luck that I have in my life,
-
13:24 - 13:28of having had my mother's example,
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13:28 - 13:32an example of much struggle, of much work.
-
13:35 - 13:37I'd like you to know
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13:40 - 13:42that I am proud to see,
-
13:42 - 13:44on a Saturday morning,
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13:44 - 13:49persons of different ages and professions
-
13:49 - 13:53worried about so many issues
that are going to be discussed here. -
13:53 - 13:59This shows that we are capable of being
a better country, of being better people. -
13:59 - 14:02This encourages me because
on a Saturday morning, -
14:02 - 14:05although we could be doing
many other things, we are here -
14:05 - 14:09to listen to different stories,
different lives. -
14:09 - 14:12This shows that we have dedicated people,
-
14:12 - 14:15people that can change the world,
like was said here. -
14:15 - 14:17If each one of us changes our world,
-
14:17 - 14:23we are going to reach a higher goal,
each one trying to change their world. -
14:24 - 14:29And this was one of the things
that encouraged me, -
14:31 - 14:37each day, to not only become
a player, but to become a person -
14:37 - 14:42because I always thought about the day
when I would stop playing football; -
14:42 - 14:47I would have to deal
with Paulo César, the person. -
14:48 - 14:51Even with failures and successes
because we are human, we are like that, -
14:51 - 14:57I always seek to have a life
that I can follow after football, -
14:57 - 14:59with respect as a man.
-
14:59 - 15:03I believe that when we have
a talent or do something, -
15:03 - 15:07many times people put up with us
because of the talent we have, -
15:07 - 15:11but when we are men and have a discipline,
-
15:11 - 15:15people put up with us,
in fact they respect us, -
15:15 - 15:16they like us for our character.
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15:16 - 15:21This is one of the things I have learned,
and I wanted to pass on to you: -
15:22 - 15:25through work and through honesty,
-
15:25 - 15:28we can reach our goals.
-
15:28 - 15:33I have learned in recent years
-
15:33 - 15:37the great "trickery" of the century.
-
15:37 - 15:40When I say this word, people get scared,
-
15:40 - 15:43and I don't like it either,
-
15:43 - 15:46but I have learned this,
-
15:46 - 15:51I have lived this in the
most recent years of my career, -
15:51 - 15:54mainly by working outside of football too,
-
15:54 - 15:58as much in the social part as other areas,
-
15:59 - 16:03that the great trickery
of the century is honesty. -
16:04 - 16:07This is something that seems very simple,
-
16:07 - 16:12but today, honesty is the great
trickery of the century, in business, -
16:12 - 16:15in day to day routine, and for people
-
16:15 - 16:16it is very difficult to have.
-
16:16 - 16:20Today everyone is thinking about
their own advantage, where they can win, -
16:20 - 16:25or what they will have to do to get there,
so it is very difficult to live this. -
16:25 - 16:28I have lived this way
the last years of my career, -
16:28 - 16:32and it has given me great joy.
-
16:33 - 16:38I was not supposed to do it,
but I am going to confide in you here -
16:39 - 16:42and say that I am going
to stop playing in April. -
16:42 - 16:44I am telling you firsthand.
-
16:44 - 16:47I felt the need to say this here, now.
-
16:48 - 16:52I am going to stop with great honor.
-
16:53 - 16:56(Applause)
-
17:18 - 17:20(Applause) (Cheers)
-
17:27 - 17:28Thank you.
-
17:30 - 17:31Thank you.
-
17:31 - 17:37Maybe what every player
and every athlete dreams of -
17:39 - 17:43is to announce this in a full stadium
as those where I've lived my entire life, -
17:43 - 17:45but for me, my biggest pride
-
17:45 - 17:49is to be announcing this in a room
with so many educated people, -
17:50 - 17:52so many trained people.
-
17:52 - 17:56My dream from when I started
-
17:56 - 18:02was to be able one day to be on a stage
-
18:02 - 18:06talking for people who truly are idols.
-
18:06 - 18:12For me a true idol is a teacher, a doctor,
-
18:12 - 18:14those that educate, those that form.
-
18:15 - 18:16For me, this is the true idol,
-
18:16 - 18:19those that save lives,
those that care for lives. -
18:20 - 18:23So I could do this in a packed stadium,
-
18:23 - 18:26but I have great pride
in the fact that I can do this - -
18:26 - 18:29I don't know how many people are here,
-
18:29 - 18:33but I know that those who are here
are persons that truly influence lives. -
18:34 - 18:35Thank you so much.
-
18:35 - 18:39That's how I kicked all the difficulties
I came across in my life. -
18:39 - 18:41I want to know how you are going to kick
-
18:41 - 18:43the difficulties
you come across in your lives. -
18:43 - 18:46(Applause) (Cheers)
- Title:
- From the football field to life | Paulo Cesar Fonseca do Nascimento Tinga | TEDxLaçadorSalon
- Description:
-
Tinga spoke about the prejudice he suffered, about his career, the important decisions and made a surprise announcement of his retirement from football.
Born and raised in Restinga, periphery of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Tinga had many difficulties as a child, and it was these difficulties that made him want to change his life and to show that yes, there is hope for one who believes. As a player known worldwide, he played for several teams including Grêmio, Internacional, Borussia Dortmund and many others. He was playing for Cruzeiro, when in one of the games, he suffered prejudice in an incident that has become known worldwide. He turned things around and helped to create the "Kicking Prejudice" campaign, in partnership with CUFA. With the help of many friends, today, through the media, it is a campaign known worldwide.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- Portuguese, Brazilian
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 19:01