Monza defender Carlos Augusto sat down with Serie A ahead of Matchday 28 to speak about the start of his career, fellow Brazilian Roberto Carlos, Manager Raffaele Palladino, and his goals so far this season.
A Terrific Start to Life in Italy
This Brazilian left-back, who had no intention of becoming a player, has scored 5 goals and set up 4 in his first 8 months in Serie A.
“All children in Brazil dream of becoming footballers, but I didn’t. I didn’t have that dream. I was the worst player at school among my classmates. They used to call me “wooden leg” because I was so bad. When it was my seventh birthday, I asked my father to take me to a football academy to learn a bit. Things then came naturally. I didn’t force anything. When I was 15 in the Corinthians youth set-up, I could see that I was capable and my attitude changed.”
Record-Breaker
With these numbers, he has bettered the record of another Brazilian defender during his first year in Italy: Roberto Carlos.
“He was brilliant. He made history here in Italy and did so well for Brazil. I watch videos of him whenever I get the chance to do similarly myself because he was so impressive so I hope to achieve close to what he did. I can say that I like that comparison because I like pressure as that’s how I can show that I can get there. I’m still young and I want to do well too.”
Raffaele Palladino & Goals
Carlos Augusto joined Monza in 2020 when the club was in Serie B, and the left-back was influential in the promotion campaign, but initially struggled in Serie A. Then, when Raffaele Palladino was appointed as coach, the 24-year-old began to blossom.
“He usually asks me to be more expansive, to give the team more width, but given my attributes, I also link up with Caprari, who plays near me for one-twos all the time, so I think that’s been good for me. I then also need to get back to defend. I’m left-footed and so the two goals I’ve scored with my right foot are more special. There’s the one against Verona when Patrick Ciurria laid it off to me. I hit it first time and scored a great goal. I liked that one. Then against Fiorentina in Florence… I hit it on my right foot on the volley and my teammates made jokes about it because I seem to shoot better on my right than on my left. The best game was against Juve at a great stadium against a top side. I think that was my best match this season.”