The rebel kid from Caxinas hopes once again to prove his detractors just how good he is
This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2012 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 16 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Poland and Ukraine. guardian.co.uk is running previews from two countries each day in the runup to the tournament kicking off on 8 June.
If Fábio Coentrão had not become a professional footballer then it could well have been him on the boat that sunk outside Figueira da Foz in November 2011, leaving six fishermen fighting for their lives. Instead it was one of his relatives, José Manuel Coentrão. The crew on board Virgin do Sameiro disappeared without a trace on 30 November and the community where Fabio Coentrão grew up, Caxinas, feared the worst. One day passed without a sign from the crew and then another.
Then, the miracle. Fifty-seven hours after the last sign from the fishermen, they were found by the Portuguese air force. All six of them. José Manuel Coentrão, the owner of the boat, had taken his crew on to the lifeboat, where they fought for their lives for what seemed like an eternity. After the rescue, he said: "I was running out of hope. Fortunately, a miracle happened." Asked what he would do next, he said: "Certainly I will return to the sea because the sea is my life."
Coentrão has always said that he would have become a fisherman if he had not made it in football. He grew up in the fishing village of Caxinas, between Vila do Conde and Povoa do Varzim. "My father was also a fisherman. My childhood was hard and my father had to leave the country in order to try to make our financial situation better."
His mother worked with his father in France for long periods, together with two of their sons, and the young Fabio had to stay in Caxinas with an aunt. "I remember my mother working in a fish factory. I would go and visit her and stay there. I worked in a bakery and I tried being a painter and decorator and worked on a construction site as well. Finally, though, I was able to concentrate more on my football."
Coentrão's talents were first spotted by Rio Ave and after a handful of matches for the first team, at the age of 18, José Mourinho invited him to train with Chelsea. He was also tracked by Sporting and Benfica but was allowed to travel to London. There, however, he struggled. Baltemar Brito, a member of Mourinho's coaching staff, remembers the 18-year-old's visit well. "He was just a boy. It is very difficult for a kid to leave Caxinas and go to London, get there and prove his potential when surrounded by very famous players.
"He made only four or five training sessions with the first team but he was just too shy and embarrassed. Only in the last training session did he show what he could do. The people at Chelsea called him 'Marcello Lippi', because of his hair and some similarities with the Italian coach's features. He spoke no English and had some difficulties to understand what they were going on about. When he found out why they called him Lippi he began to feel more comfortable and that was when he showed something in training."
It was not enough to win a contract with Chelsea, however, and the winger returned to Rio Ave. Soon afterwards, Benfica pounced and gave him six appearances before shipping him out on loan to Nacional of Madeira. He spent six months there, six months in Spain at Real Zaragoza, six more back at Rio Ave, before finally settling down back at Benfica. The boy from Caxinas had spent a month in London, then half year in Lisbon and now another half on the island. And yet, his biggest challenge was yet to come: playing in Spain.
After a good six months at Nacional, there was even more travelling. Coentrão joined Zaragoza, where he, again, lasted six months. The coach at Zaragoza at the time, Marcelino Toral, remembers: "He was part of the deal that saw Pablo Aimar join Benfica. He never really managed to settle in and didn't look like he cared much for what happened at Zaragoza. I had the feeling that he never wanted to be at the club and he left again in January."
Coentrão, unsurprisingly, saw it differently. "I would quit football if I had to return to Zaragoza. They misjudged me as a player and a person. Now that I am at Real Madrid, maybe they can see they were wrong. Even worse, the coach or someone tried to tell people that I was a party guy, that I did not take care of myself. That was not fair," he said recently.
He returned to Rio Ave for another six months, before finally settling down back at Benfica. In the first game of the 2009-10 campaign, Coentrão came off the bench to play left-back. A new start and a new position. He has never looked back.
After a tremendous season at left-back, Carlos Queiroz took him to the World Cup in South Africa. By that time, Coentrão had got married and was expecting his first daughter. The kid had grown up and arrived at the competition as a man. "Before [when I was younger] I was thinking only with my feet. Nowadays, I am able to think also with my head. In the first half of the season I had some difficulties in adapting [to the left-back role], but since January I feel very comfortable. I think I did an excellent second half of the season and I have to thank [the Benfica manager] Jorge Jesus for having gambled on me after everything that had happened to me in the previous two years and for giving me the confidence to play like I know I can."
Coentrão had an outstanding World Cup and was included in many experts' team of the tournament. He stayed for another year at Benfica and said he would sign a contract for life there, but then Mourinho and Real Madrid came knocking, paying the €30m release clause in his contract. "I spent two great years at Benfica but I think it is time to leave and [I hope] the fans will understand my decision," said Coentrão at the time. "I would only leave Benfica for Real Madrid. They have the best payer in the world, Ronaldo, and the best coach, Mourinho."
For Coentrão this was the biggest challenge possible. The pressure of playing for Real Madrid. The competition for places. Playing in La Liga again, where he had failed with Zaragoza. In Madrid he has kept a low profile most of the time, and he even revealed some funny habits. "I live very close to Cristiano Ronaldo. Sometimes I go there to ask for some vegetables from his garden. When he isn't home, I have to climb the wall to get in."
Coentrão has improved further as a player under Mourinho, who has used him in central midfield at times with Marcelo keeping a firm grip on the left. But even in a year of upheaval and a new position, he has played more than 30 games for Real.
Despite his success, he is still the rebel kid from Caxinas. A pretty innocent kid in a city full of traps. When celebrating his 24th birthday he was pictured with a cigarette in his hand, standing next to Ronaldo. There was outrage in the media and Mourinho did not include him in the squad for the next game. Coentrão, however, hit back by saying: "It was my birthday and it was a one-off thing. I am very disappointed with what has been written in the press because no one can say anything bad about me. I am an excellent professional, I have always given everything for the clubs I have represented and it is not fair to put everything in doubt because of one isolated act."
As Portugal prepare for the challenge of facing Denmark, Germany and Holland at Euro 2012, the speedy fisherman hopes once again to prove his detractors just how good he is.
Vítor Hugo Alvarenga is senior football writer for Maisfutebol Read More
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