Brazil’s newest star Roberto Firmino expects his sleeping problems to continue after scoring his first goal for the Selecao in their 2-1 win over Austria.
The 23-year-old sealed Brazil’s victory in Vienna on Tuesday with a superb strike seven minutes from time after Paris Saint-Germain centre-back David Luiz had opened the scoring for the visitors and Aleksandar Dragovic equalised with a penalty.
Firmino’s thunderbolt from outside the penalty area clocked 93 kilometres per hour as Carlos Dunga’s side made it six wins from six since finishing third at the World Cup.
Firmino admitted he had been a bundle of nerves for the last fortnight, but now expects to be too excited to sleep well with excitement following his goal and was still beaming when he arrived at Frankfurt airport on Wednesday.
“After I was selected, I couldn’t sleep properly for two weeks,” said the forward, who plays for Hoffenheim, currently fifth in the Bundesliga.
“Now I have a good reason to not be able to sleep for a month.
“It was a unique feeling to have scored this beautiful goal, it was already a dream just to be here.
“I was lucky enough to have been able to hit the ball on the sweet spot and help my team-mates to another victory to finish off the year.
“I’ll frame the jersey and never take it out.
“I left Brazil at 17, now the fans can get to know me — and they know exactly who Firmino is.”
Dunga singled out Firmino for praise after earning a reputation for impressive Bundesliga goals, having scored three in 11 German league matches this season.
“When I called him, I said he has an eye for goal and scores like no other,” said the 51-year-old in his second term as Selecao coach.
Firmino has the chance to make more headlines on Saturday when Hoffenheim travel to face Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich away with Pep Guardiola’s side four points clear at the top of the table. – Agence France-Presse
