Club training grounds in England are often out of the way, ideally in quiet, leafy surroundings – but it’s evidently a different story for Brazilian side Vasco de Gama.
The Rio de Janeiro-based club have invested heavily in their Moacyr Barbosa training ground, which opened in 2020.
But an interview with Aston Villa loanee Philippe Coutinho, as well as teammates Nuno Moreira and Leo Jardim, at the training facility in Cidade de Deus was twice interrupted by by the sound of gunfire, as reported by Globo.
Gunshot sounds interrupt Philippe Coutinho interview at Vasco de Gama
Although Coutinho awkwardly laughed in discomfort and tried to continue, the concern on his face was evident – and the issue is of course far from a trivial matter.
Globo report that police officer José Antônio Lourenço was killed in the line of duty while investigating an unauthorised ice factory in the same part of the city on Monday, with several shootings recorded during the operation.
The Braziliam outlet add that the sound of gunshots and helicopters is ‘normal’ at the training ground due to the high volume of police activity in the area.
Cidade de Deus has reportedly seen a high number of violent incidents over the past few years. This month alone buses have had to be re-routed due to violence of five separate occasions.
Coutinho began his career in Vasca de Gama’s youth system before getting a move to Inter as a 16 year old in 2008.
From where Coutinho went on to join Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool in 2013, and became the third-most expensive player of all time upon joining Barcelona five years later.
Coutinho’s time at the Camp Nou did not go terribly happily, however, and he was loaned out to Bayern Munich and then to Aston Villa in 2022, linking back up former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard, who was manager at the time.
That move became permanent later that year, but Coutinho failed to make an impression on Unai Emery after he arrived as Gerrard’s replacement soon afterwards.
The Brazilian spent last season on loan with Qatari side Al-Duhail and returned to Vasco de Gama on loan last summer.
