'I played against drug traffickers' - Antony opens up on 'real pressure' of playing in 'Little Hell' after finding home on loan at Real Betis following terrible Man Utd stint

The Brazil international grew up in the infamous Inferinho favela on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, which translates as ‘Little Hell’. Unsurprisingly, he picked up plenty of important life lessons from the school of hard knocks.

Antony was never one to back down from a challenge, and has been showing that professionally of late after rediscovering a lost spark during a loan spell in Spain. After being written off at Old Trafford, following an £85 million ($110m) transfer in 2022, the 25-year-old has been earning widespread praise in Andalusia.

Antony has told DAZN of why he finds it easy to ignore supposed troubles in his football career: "When I’m asked about pressure, I say ‘what pressure?’ I faced pressure in the favela when I didn’t have shoes to play, I played against drug traffickers and everything. That was real pressure.

"When I left in the morning to go to school I often didn’t eat. So when I go through difficult moments I always think about the challenges that I overcame in the past."

Antony has previously told The Players’ Tribune of his experiences as a youngster in Brazil: "On my walk to school one morning, when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old, I came across a man laying in the alley. He was not moving. When I got closer, I realised he was dead.

"In the favela, you become kind of numb to these things. There was no other way to go, and I had to get to school. So I just closed my eyes and jumped over the dead body. I am not saying this to sound tough. It was just my reality. In fact, I always say that I was very lucky as a child, because despite all of our struggles, I was given a gift from heaven.

"The ball was my saviour. My love from the cradle. In Inferninho, we don’t care about toys for Christmas. Any ball that rolls is perfect to us. I refused to bow my head to anyone. I would elastico the drug dealers. Rainbow the bus drivers. Nutmeg the thieves. I really did not give a f*ck. With a ball at my feet, I had no fear."

Antony is displaying those qualities once more, with four goals and as many assists being recorded through 11 appearances for Real Betis. They remain eager to put an extended loan agreement in place, but there has already been talk of interest being shown from the likes of Bayern Munich ahead of the next transfer window.