Rafael Leao spoke to Il Corriere della Sera. In the lengthy interview, he started to talk first about his book 'Smile' and said these words:
"I tell myself. I'm only 24 years old, I know there's still a lot to write, especially as a footballer. I would like to explain to my fans who I really am. And why I smile."
Indeed: why do you smile?
"There are people who don't have water to drink. When you can walk, you have food to eat, maybe you have someone who loves you, life is 'smile.' I have everything, I have even more, God has given me a gift and I am grateful to Him. My job is to play football, I've fulfilled my childhood dream. How could I not smile?"
The subheading in the book is 'My life between football, music, and fashion." The three passions: in what order?
"Football, music, fashion. I'm a player first and foremost."
And in what way do you need to grow as a footballer? Leao replied:
"To grow, I need to win important things, like the Champions League or the Europa League. Beautiful things are forgotten too quickly, so you have to win every year, as much as possible. When you're at Milan, you have to do it, it's not a choice, it's a duty. To leave your name in history."
And as a singer?
"No, music is just a hobby for now. It's my best friend. I belong to Generation Z, the digital natives. I became passionate about rap by listening to it on my phone. I was crazy about Eminem as a child. But music was already in the house: my uncle was a DJ, he played at private parties and in clubs. Trap, drill. Then I started writing songs, I'm on my second album. After Beginning, My life in each verse. I met Kanye West before Genoa-Milan. Now there's football. In the future, we'll see. Music is also a way to talk about myself. And to send a message: I want to encourage young people to believe in their dreams, to never give up."
Favourite song?
"‘Escolhas,’ ‘choices.’ It says: ‘Many say that I have changed / you don't know what I've been through / I have to improve every day / if you fail, restart / Don't delay, it could be too late.'"
What does it mean? Leao answered:
"Taking control of your own life. Decisions are not always easy, but if I'm here, it's because of the choices I've made. Even the wrong ones. Being privileged doesn't mean life has always been easy. And it doesn't mean being unable to suffer."
Fashion? Is there a connection with football and music?
"I like to experiment, always. Milan in this sense is fantastic. But I've always been passionate about fashion, my dad passed on this passion to me as a child: don't go out with an unironed shirt. Fashion could be a possibility for my future."
Is the plan to win today as a footballer and then break through as a singer and model?
"Surely when I stop playing, I won't stay in football. I've been in this environment for ten years already, I've had many experiences. I want to get rid of that kind of stress and focus on my family and my other passions."
You are a social media star, heading towards 6 million followers on Instagram...
"Social media is dangerous, it's not a positive world. Too much hate, too much nastiness. The things I know, I didn't learn there. I use them because I have to for my job, but I don't like them. There's not much smiling on social media."
Your response to a racist hater went viral...
"There are people like that on social media and beyond, unfortunately. Education is often lacking in families, at school. He doesn't even know what he did. And that's a problem: racists often don't even realize they're racist."
Is Italy a racist country?
"Racism is everywhere, unfortunately. That's why we footballers have to try to do something, since we have so much popularity. We have to use this strength by sending messages. Milan is very sensitive to this issue. Even in the Maignan case in Udine, it was evident. We did well to behave like that, it's right to walk off the field."
On your calf, you have a tattoo of Martin Luther King, with the words 'I have a dream.'
"I also have one of Nelson Mandela. For us black people, they are two great men who fought to the end to make it clear that we are all equal, regardless of skin color. I wanted their message to be on me forever. I have many dreams, one of them is a world without racists."
And the dream as a footballer? What future do you imagine?
"My future is at Milan. I'm here and I still have a four-year contract. Milan helped me when I was in a very difficult situation, they stood by me. I don't forget, I'm loyal. I arrived here as a boy, I've grown up as a man and as a player. I want to win again, my head is here."
About you, Ibrahimovic says: 'He's a genius, on the field he sees things others don't'.
"I'm not a genius. But he raised my level a lot. He talks to me about everything, not just football. I needed him: he helped me not only as a footballer, but also as a man. He's very important to me. He was when he played, he is now too."
Your football and musical idols? Leao replied:
"Cristiano Ronaldo. When I was little, Ronaldinho. In music, I don't have a true idol. Maybe only Bob Marley. I also have a tattoo of his."
From the difficult outskirts of Lisbon to the big football stage.
"I've made many sacrifices, but above all, my family has. My father Antonio left Angola at 18 to work in Portugal and give me a future. He gave me many lessons, first of all the importance of work. That's why I want to do everything to give back what they gave me: I have the opportunity to do something with my talent. The first thing I bought with my salary at Lille was a house for my family."
You've been in Milan for five years now, what's your relationship with the city?
"Now it's home. I like everything: shopping, fashion, even the weather, because it feels like Portugal. If you think Milan is cold, try spending a winter in Lille. And then the food! I love everything about Italian cuisine: pasta, risottos, fish."
On the field, you often look up to the sky. What's your relationship with God?
"Very close. I'm a believer, Catholic, even though some thought I was Muslim, perhaps because of my skin color and African origins. I used to go to Mass every Sunday, now it's harder because of the matches. Prayer is part of my life."
You always use the surf symbol on social media: another of your passions?
"I've never surfed in my life. It's a way of life because the surfer tries and tries again, never giving up. The wave will come sooner or later. And when it comes, you have to be ready to ride it."
At 24, you're wealthy. Is money important?
"Sure, but they're not the first thing. My father wasn't rich, but he was happy. It was good for me to go from Portugal to France when I got my first real contract. I was 18. That intermediate jump helped me mature. Lille is a small city. It wouldn't have been good to come straight here to Milan. Today it's different, I'm older and I know what to do."
Cars, watches: do you like luxury?
"When you come from where I come from, the money from your first contract seems to never end, it's a lot, you've never seen that number written on a bank account except in Wall Street movies. You must not lose your head. Right after the house for my parents, I decided to buy something for myself: it was a Rolex Submariner. It was beautiful. It represented having made it. Today I don't have it anymore: one of my closest friends lost it, I don't know on which plane coming back from vacation. I didn't talk to him for a week... The watch is gone, but he's still my best friend."
Leao, what are your earliest memories?
"The ball at my feet, in Bairro da Jamaica, beyond the Tagus River. A very popular neighborhood, most of its inhabitants are immigrants, many from Africa. My family is partly Angolan and partly, from my mother's side, from São Tomé. Angolans, Guineans, Cape Verdeans are the ones who live in the neighborhood. Not an easy place. The good thing there was the ball, I played with it from morning till night. Entire afternoons in the supermarket parking lot. Sometimes I think I stayed on that pitch. Often it was crumpled cards or a can or a bottle used as a ball, while a car was the goal. My way of playing is still the same, street football, made of feints, sprints, cunning."
It seems that you only want to score beautiful goals. Maybe it's a flaw.
"Yes, it's true, I love beautiful goals. Of course, I'd like to score more and more. But I make assists, plays, I'm complete. Football today is only about statistics, numbers. And I don't like it. Football is magic, joy. It annoys me that people only think about numbers. If you have a bad game, but then you score, they say 'wow.' I'm not like that. Because people should have fun. And then I have to have fun too. I'm for beauty. Aesthetics. In football, as in fashion and music. As in love."
You're liked by children...
"Perhaps because I play like the little ones, who want to have fun."
What does your coach Stefano Pioli often tell you?
"You're always the last."
And is it true?
"Yes."
What does Gerry Cardinale, owner of Milan, tell you?
"We don't see each other often, but he loves me, he helps me. He even gave me his phone number, but I've never called him, I wouldn't want to bother him. Even the CEO Giorgio Furlani is very close to me: he even speaks to me in Portuguese. Great person."
If we tell you that you don't score enough goals and lack consistency, do you take it personally? Leao replied:
"Criticism always charges me up. Sometimes they make me angry, but only if they're not constructive. I'm sorry if they're just meant to provoke me. Often I wonder: does this person understand football? I'm emotional, even if I don't show it. However, these things make me stronger. I know where I can go."
The Serie A title is gone, but Milan fans want the Europa League: is it achievable?
"There are many strong teams, but we have a clear idea: to reach the final and win."
Is wearing the number 10 jersey a burden?
"No, it gives me extra strength. The number 10 is football.
On love:
"I can't open my heart 100%, I have a tremendous fear of being hurt. I can't let go, be myself completely, and build something lasting. Yet I'm sure I want a family, children, before I'm 30. Maybe I'm afraid that children might experience what I experienced, the separation of my parents, and then grow up like I did. I would like to transmit that relationship of love that I have never seen."
