{"id":323298,"date":"2023-01-10T18:10:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T21:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/futebol-causos-e-afeto-de-luis-fernando-abichabki\/"},"modified":"2023-01-10T18:10:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T21:10:43","slug":"football-stories-and-affection-luis-fernando-abichabki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/football-stories-and-affection-luis-fernando-abichabki\/","title":{"rendered":"Football, stories, and affection: Lu\u00eds Fernando Abichabki"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 He was a substitute for Brazilian football legend S\u00f3crates at the S\u00e3o Paulo-based club Corinthians, played in remote places as Mineiros, in the state of Goi\u00e1s, and Thessaloniki, in Greece, played in arch-rival teams like Rio Grande do Sul\u2019s Gr\u00eamio and Internacional, and played footvolley with Maradona in Dubai. Today, Lu\u00eds Fernando Abichabki<\/strong> can be found working at a football club in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Pardo, in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo state, his hometown and the place to where he likes to return. He is the sports director of Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Atl\u00e9tica Riopardense, which was part of his childhood and teenage years and has now become part of his routine again.<\/p>\n

The surname Abichabki reveals his Arab origins and hides the Italian family names from the mother\u2019s side. When in doubt about the country from which the family came, he immediately added, \u2018Syrian-Lebanese<\/strong>.\u2019 All the former player knows is that his great-grandfather was a merchant who ended up in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo. In addition to the last name, he inherited the taste for delicacies such as stuffed grape leaves.<\/p>\n

Nando, as his friends and relatives call him, grew up playing a bit of everything at the club and on the streets. When the opportunity came to play football for the Guarani club in exchange for a scholarship to attend college at PUC Campinas, it was a success. And off he went for the first of his many moves of city and house.<\/p>\n

In 1981, at the age of 20, the player received a proposal to train at S\u00e3o Paulo-based club Corinthians<\/strong>. The place, according to him, was very precarious, in no way honoring the distinguished Brazilian club.<\/strong> Gradually, the football stars started to appear, and he recognized them one by one. Zenon, Wladimir, and S\u00f3crates would shine in the following years as the \u201cImmortal Squad.\u201d Osvaldo Brand\u00e3o, then coach, in the presence of President Vicente Matheus, said: \u201cThe boy will stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a young age, he experienced Corinthian\u2019s peak. He was part of the so-called Corinthian Democracy<\/strong>, marked by the figures of Socrates<\/strong> and Walter Casagrande. According to Lu\u00eds Fernando, the movement was not only a political position against Brazil\u2019s declining military dictatorial government but also a remarkable event. \u201cWe were very united, and this harmony happened on and off the field,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

From \u201cDoctor S\u00f3crates,\u201d only good memories and great teachings. The player, who died in 2011, used to take books on trips and share passages aloud with his roommates. \u201cHe would read and make us reflect and discuss what he had just read,\u201d recalled Lu\u00eds Fernando. In 1984, when he left for Fiorentina club in Italy, S\u00f3crates said Lu\u00eds Fernando would be his successor. \u201cIt was to give me strength, very generous of him, but he knew, I knew, everyone knew that no one would replace him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

From S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Pardo to Dubai<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Lu\u00eds Fernando played for Corinthians until 1987 and was even loaned to Internacional<\/strong> club in Rio Grande Sul, where he was state champion. Later, he went to arch-rivals Gr\u00eamio<\/strong>. He also played for Paran\u00e1-based clubs Coritiba and Atl\u00e9tico Paranaense and Campinas-based Guarani and Ponte Preta. The former player was never one to plan every step of his career or life. Outside Brazil, he played for the Greek team Paok in Thessaloniki and Bellinzona in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.<\/p>\n

After marrying Christiane came the children, Eduardo and Leonardo, and a phase of coming and going among minor teams in Brazil. Tired, Lu\u00eds Fernando retired his boots and returned home, where he opened a football school. After obtaining a Physical Education undergraduate degree, he taught at a school and the local club. However, life would still take him out of peaceful S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Pardo a few more times.<\/p>\n

In 2010, thanks to old contacts from his playing days, he received an invitation to coach in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates<\/strong>. Having already a short career as a coach at S\u00e3o Paulo-based club Santo Andr\u00e9, he saw the invitation as a chance to give his children a life that would not be possible in Brazil. For seven years, the Brazilian coached the sub-19 team of Al Nasr and the substitute team of Al Shabbab.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he returned to Brazil. But not for long. Soon came the invitation to work for the government of the emirate of Sharjah<\/strong>, where he managed nine professional teams and youth categories. \u201cI developed a specific teaching pedagogy for them; we built a training center with five fields specifically for the project.\u201d Classes were for both players and coaches, all native or children of UAE residents.<\/p>\n

In the Gulf country, he played footvolley with Maradona, the Argentine football legend who lived in Dubai and coached local teams in the 2010s. Altogether, Lu\u00eds Fernando spent ten years in the country, where he learned to speak technical football terms and essential everyday words in Arabic<\/strong>. From there, he misses the beauty, safety, and opportunities his children had. \u201cIt\u2019s an oasis, a paradise; you will have a very good life there. In addition, the Brazilian community is big, and we made many friends,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Homesick, the Brazilian decided it was time to go back. For once? \u201cI\u2019ve already been called to go to Dubai, and I could even accept new proposals if I think that\u2019s what I should do. There I had an apartment, a car, a great job, and a very good salary,\u201d he explained. But what about here? \u201cHere I have affection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Translated by El\u00fasio Brasileiro<\/strong><\/p>\n

Personal files\/Lu\u00eds Fernando Abichabki<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From his Syrian-Lebanese origins to his coaching career in Dubai, the former Corinthians football player is a collector of friends and stories from his life as a football player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2309,"featured_media":323292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3066,109],"tags":[19957,38013,38021,38014,38015,9621,26555,23864,9687,38020,38016,38017,37996,33152,12303,38018,38019,9579],"class_list":{"0":"post-323298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-society","8":"category-sports","9":"tag-coach","10":"tag-corinthians-en","11":"tag-corinthians-democracy","12":"tag-das-origens-sirio-libanesas-a-carreira-de-tecnico-em-dubai-en","13":"tag-democracia-corinthiana-en","14":"tag-dubai-en","15":"tag-dubai-en-2","16":"tag-emirados-en-2","17":"tag-emirates-en-2","18":"tag-from-syrian-lebanese-origins-to-coaching-career-in-dubai","19":"tag-jogador-en","20":"tag-luis-fernando-abichabki-en","21":"tag-player","22":"tag-sharjah-en-2","23":"tag-sharjah-en","24":"tag-socrates-en","25":"tag-tecnico-en","26":"tag-uae-en"},"wps_subtitle":"From his Syrian-Lebanese origins to his coaching career in Dubai, the former Corinthians football player is a collector of friends and stories from his life as a football player.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}