Sergio gets on his electric bike after soccer practice, and heads north to the home he shares with his mother, father and younger brother in Rio’s Botafogo neighborhood. He has enough time to eat dinner before making his way to school. He’s finishing his last year of high school a bit later than usual because of his time traveling for soccer. The apartment where his family lives is small, with one room acting as living room, dining room and bedroom for all, thanks to a set of bunk beds pushed up against a corner and a trundle bed hidden by one wall.
The all-in-one room is also where Sergio’s mom Ceia works as a hairdresser. An old set of wooden drawers cluttered with hair products sits up against the same wall as the bunk beds, a large mirror on top of it and a red vinyl stylist’s chair in front of it, ready for clients.
Sergio’s father, also named Sergio Leandro de Oliveira, is rarely home because of his long work hours. He has been selling cold drinks from his stand on Botafogo beach for the last 20 years and usually starts his day at 8 a.m., only leaving for home around 10 p.m. He built his business on his own over the past two decades after a difficult childhood due to his mother’s death when he was just five years old.
“I’ve done everything on my own,” says the elder Sergio as he pulls a bottle of water out of a cooler for a customer. “Everything we have is because of the beach.”
His son feels the same way. Not only did Sergio Jr. start playing soccer on the same beach where his father makes a living, but he has also met most of his friends while practicing or playing footvolley on Rio’s beaches.
And his younger brother, Gabriel, is following in his footsteps. Recruiters already have their eye on the 14-year-old soccer star, who landed the role of young Pelé in the movie that chronicles the Brazilian soccer legend’s life. Sergio even got an unexpected call to audition for the film when dropping his brother off to try out for his part. He ended up playing the role of another soccer player and taking on the task of doing close-up tricks and skills for the movie.
“I never thought I’d be doing something like this,” he says of his budding acting career, which also includes a Coca-Cola commercial that is set to debut during the World Cup. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is play soccer.”
And while Sergio’s family is proud of him and supports him in every way, they also know the value of education.
“He could work at something else and be happy too, but this is his dream, so we’re all behind him,” his father says. “But he still has to finish school. Even if he does make this his career, education is the most important thing for him to have a future.”
While Sergio squirms a bit at the thought of going to college — “I don’t even know what I would want to study,” he says — he doesn’t go against his father. But he makes sure everyone knows what he thinks is his true calling.
“Soccer is my life. It’s what I love. I just want to play.”
