IN MY WORDS: Brazilian-American Midfielder Luis Felipe

Earthquakes midfielder Luis Felipe tells the story of his path to professional soccer, and the many moves he made along the way.

By San Jose Earthquakes

October 5^th, 2018

IN MY WORDS: Brazilian-American Midfielder Luis Felipe

I have moved around so much in my life, starting when I was really young. I was born in New York and I moved to Brazil when I was 3 years old. My parents, Regina and Dio, came to the U.S. to work and try for a better life than in Brazil. I had a lot of issues with the weather health wise, it got really cold there, so my parents decided to move back.

My family lives in a small city called Ouro Branco. Growing up, my life was all about soccer. I have played soccer since I was 5 years old. I went to school, came back and played soccer in the street as we do over there. Everyone in the city knew me for it. It was nice.

When I was around 13 I went to a tryout for Cruzeiro Esporte Club in Belo Horizonte, and I made the team! I left my parent’s home and moved from my city to Belo Horizonte. I was following my dream and I was really excited.

My new team was two hours away from my parent’s house, so I could go home every weekend. I lived with a friend of mine from my city and his mom in Belo Horizonte. She moved with us. I was going home to Ouro Branco all the time with them.

It was tough for my parents when I moved to Belo Horizonte. I was very young, but they knew that it was my dream and I had already been playing for many years. They have always supported me, even when I moved.

I played at Cruzeiro Esporte Club from 13 until 19, and afterwards I went to the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers in the NASL. I loved living in Ft. Lauderdale. I already spoke English, so it was not hard for me to move there. They had a lot of Brazilian guys on the team which helped.

I had a great season. We made it really far in the Open Cup that year. We were the only non-MLS team to make it to the final rounds of the tournament. Ft. Lauderdale was not a very big club, but it was great living there. I loved the team and I loved the fans.

That glory was followed by the hardest time in all of my career so far. My contract was up and I had to figure out where I was going and wait for my agent. Moving from one team to another in the offseason when I didn’t have a contract was hard.

I got to go to Reno, and Reno was great for me. I learned a lot of stuff. As soon as the season ended, I had a contract to come to San Jose which was really good. I didn’t have to wait for it. The offseason when you don’t have a contract is really hard.

The Quakes had good plans for me since the beginning, coming to Reno and knowing they have this connection with San Jose. I think that helped me a lot.

At the beginning of this season, I was not playing and it was hard for me, but I knew I had to work for my opportunity and once it came I had to play best, as I did.

I like playing in MLS a lot. It is a great level of soccer and it is growing here a lot, so I am very happy. When I’m not playing, I like to play videogames and go to the beach. I go to the movies a lot. I enjoy the pool in my complex.

My family and my agent have always been with me. I do not get to see them very often because they are back in Brazil and they have their lives there. They can’t come here all the time, but I see them every offseason and sometimes during the season. I have a lot of friends but as I move all the time, I can’t be really close with them.

I have moved around so much, but I want to be here for a while. I am always trying to have goals to achieve and I think from here, I want to play as much as I can hopefully get better contract and play for the U.S. national team. I have already played for the youth, so I kind of have a history with it. From all the moving I have two nationalities. I am Brazilian American.

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