50 facts about Pato

"50 things that you didn't know about Pato". an article from GQ magazine

#1: In 2008, Pato told his cousin, who was driving the car, to speed up because he had to take the driver's license test in Novara.
Half an hour later they were heading towards Bologna. His cousin had taken the wrong turn on the freeway so Pato had to wait another month to get his driver's license.

#2: Now Pato has a driver from Bari who drives him to training at Milanello.

#3: When Pato was 10 he broke his arm after he fell off the couch. When doing the X-ray, the doctors found a rare disease which could potentially turn into to a malicious tumor. An operation was needed immediately but Pato's family didn't have the money to pay for it. Luckily, one of their friends was a doctor, and he performed the surgery on Pato for free. His arm, and maybe his life too, was saved.

#4: Pato is the youngest goalscorer in a FIFA competition. He scored the first goal when he was 17 years and 102 days old Pelé held the record before him.

#5: Pato's first friend in Italy was Cafu's son. Pato played on the pitch with Cafu and in the backyard at home with Cafu's son.

#6: When Pato was a kid, he always played with Italy/Juventus on the Playstation, because of Del Piero. Del Piero was his favorite player.

#7: Pato once bought a book about Obama because he was fascinated by him, due to other Milan-players constantly speaking about him. Pato fell asleep 10 minutes after opening the book about Obama.

#8: Pato likes to listen to Usher, Rihanna, Jovanotti, Eminem, Tiziano Ferro and Eros Ramazotti But Pato's favorite song is "Sweet Dreams" by Beyoncé. https://www.youtube.com/​watch?v=JlxByc0-V40

#9: Pato's first closet in the changing room was right next to Maldini. Pato copied everything he did Pato even copied Maldini's way of tying his boots. Pato managed to dribble past Maldini in his first training session with Milan.

#10: There's a restaurant in Yokohama, where all the walls are completely plastered with photos of Pato.

#11: The first thing Pato ate in Italy was a sandwich at a service station on a freeway.

#12: His first lunch at Milanello consisted of pasta with tomatoes, pasta with pesto and pasta with zucchini. Ancelotti then approached Pato, looked him deep into his eyes and talked with him for 2 hours about Italian food.

#13: Pato eats Spaghetti Carbonara four times a week. Needless to say that it's his favorite dish.

#14: Pato is crazy about ice cream. He eats it twice before every training session and match.

#15: Pato has grown 8 centimetres and gained 8 kilos in weight since moving to Italy.

#16: Pato married Stephany Brito at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Every guest had his/her own hotel room (worth €600) and their own private car and driver.

#17: Pato is friends with Mario Balotelli. They often call each other and also send each other text messages.

#18: During Pato's first 2 days in Italy, he went to Verona and he spent a lot of time watching the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet. Pato was completely mesmerized by it.

#19: Before he went to La Scala with Barbara Berlusconi, he bought books about the opera, because he knew nothing beforehand.

#20: Pato's dream is to buy an island.

#21: Pato's ideal goal: A cross which he stops with his back facing the goal, and then he puts it into the top corner with a bicycle kick.
Pato once told it to a journalist, who then published a drawing of it in the newspaper the next day. Pato didn't like that and said: "You don't sell or publish private dreams in the newspaper".

#22: When Pato got his first salary, he immediately bought a new house and a new car for his parents.

#23: Pato has an obsession with punctuality.

#24: Pato doesn't have any tattoos.

#25: Pato has a passion for bowling. He has a good aim, but his power is weak.

#26: Pato is obsessed with his iPad, but he doesn't use any social networks (so all the Pato-accounts on Twitter are fake).

#27: When Milan travel on away games, Pato always sits on the left side of the plane, right next to a window. Pato then puts on his headphones and watches a dvd on his laptop

#28: Pato loves action movies - especially movies with Bruce Willis or Will Smith.

#29: Pato is a horrible dancer, and his teammates make fun of him because of it. They say that he's the only Brazilian without any rhythm.

#30: Pato once said that "Fabiano Santacroce is the best defender that I've ever faced in Italy".

#31: After winning the Scudetto last year, Pato said: "This is the best day of my life".

#32: After scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Pato said: "This is the best day of my life".

#33: After scoring against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Pato said: "This is the best day of my life".

#34: Pato is very absent-mínded. He once forgot his passport at home when Milan was playing an away match in the Champions League.

#35: Pato has a bike and he likes to ride it on the sidewalks of Via Vincenzo Monti, which is close to where he lives.

#36: Pato really likes children, especially his teammates' children. and Pato has special connection with one of Antonini's daughters. She often makes drawings for him.

#37: Pato didn't even know that Formula 1 existed before he came to Italy. He started liking it after he saw the Monza GP live. Before that Pato hadn't even seen a GP, not even on tv.

#38: Pato bought a Ferrari in lucid black, but 6 months later he had the color changed to opaque black. Pato had the color changed because it’s the same color as the Ferrari that an American style icon has (the name wasn't revealed).

#39: Pato once got a fine when he was driving on the freeway, because the windows of his car were too dark.

#40: After Pato's first training with Milan, Ancelotti said: "This kid is fantastic. He will win the Ballon d'Or one day".

#41: After playing with Kakà, Pato said: "It's a dream come true to play with him".

#42: After playing with Ronaldo, Pato said: "It's a dream come true to play with him".

#43: After playing with Ronaldinho, Pato said: "It's a dream come true to play with him".

#44: Gianni Di Marzio spotted Pato when he was only 15 years old. Back then, Gianni Di Marzio was working for Juventus.

#45: Despite scoring 2 goals vs. Viktoria Plzen, Pato didn't say a word to anyone on the way back to Milano. Reason? Because Allegri had a furious outburst after the match, where he criticized Pato for all the mistakes that he had made.

#46: Pato is considered to be the most fashion-aware amongst the Brazilian players at Milan. It's because of the particular way that Pato chooses what to wear.

#47: Pato got his first real injury in his career vs. Fiorentina in 2008. Even though it was just a sprained ankle.Pato kept on crying afterwards in the changing room. All his teammates tried to cheer him up, but he was completely inconsolable.

#48: After Beckham's first training with Milan in Dubai, Pato said: "I've never seen anyone like him before".

#49: Pato decided not to join PSG and stay at Milan, while he was at Milanello getting ready to clear out his closet. Pato then called Galliani immediately.

#50: Pato often gets teased because of his rich and unruly hair. Once, Gattuso said to Pato when he arrived at Milanello: "Did you comb your hair whilst standing in a wind tunnel?"

Hope you all liked the "50 things that you didn't know about Pato" article from GQ magazine that I just posted. #ForzaPato #ForzaMilan

Credits to @Milanello on twitter

It's nice to see how Milan treat thier player like a one big family and where youngsters are welcomed by legends

Fantastic read. I didn't know many of them , actually. Can't wait to see Pato play again , it's quite sad that all these injuries have happened to him. He deserves better.

pato roasted maldini on his first training

that was really cool to read

I DNT WANT PATO TO LEAVE...

i dont think pato will go,galliani said he doesnt plan on changing our attack

I have ALWAYS loved Pato and been a huge fan. It is unfortunate about his injuries, I HOPE next year will be a better year for him. Really good read, props for the post.

thats nice trivia man!! good job.

"Did you comb your hair whilst standing in a wind tunnel?"- Gattuso thats so hilarous hahaha... im gonna put that in my avatar signtre

Lol these facts made me miss Pato more xD

uzee wrote:Lol these facts made me miss Pato more xD

yeah same here.... its unfortunate with his injury situation

He is my all time favorite player and I wish he overcomes his injury problems. The first time I saw him play was in the olympics and on that day I knew he was going to grow on me.

When in Summer of 2007 there was talk of a 17-year-old phenomenon who had nutmegged the great Carles Puyol in Club World Cup 2006, I just wished we could steal him somehow...

Then the news came out, Ancelotti had truly fallen in love with the boy and Galliani didn't hesitate in showing his financial muscle off, writing a 22m Euro check for Internacional Porto Alegre.

And he had to wait for a whole 4 months before kicking off his career (although we sure remember that magical night in Kyiv where and when Sheva put the historical no.7 jersey on Pato, and our boy scored a header to win us the friendly game).

Came the moment of truth, finally, when KaPaRo's only meaningful game got underway, and boy was it a game oozing class and style.

Ronaldo's clinical performance aside, Pato was simply unhandy, easily better than Messi back then, he just buzzed and danced around the pitch against Napoli's hardmen, with his yellow boots... Who could forget that night?

And since then, whenever, absolutely whenever Pato's been fit, he's scored and won us complicated games. Everytime we needed the boy, he's emerged, if only he was as lucky as Messi is.

Tonight I was watching Lionel "The Great". His second goal is what distinguishes him from past greats like Maradona and Van Basten, in a move that was strangely reminiscent of Kaka's first against ManUTD in Old Trafford.

Messi hit the 50-goal mark in a real OMFG(!) performance, but everytime he touched the ball, after at least 50 demanding games, he looked totally exuberant, sharp, fresh and fit fit fit, jealousy bit my ass...

Why oh why couldn't Pato stay match-fit for a whole season? Why is his otherworldly talent's progress halted time and again with these inexplicable injuries?


A true Milan fan must have gotten to know the baby-face gem in 2008-09, therefore a true Milan fan never gives up on a boy who at 19 years of age was doubtless the best second striker in the whole world.

He's shown flashes of sheer brilliance here and there, like against Madrid in 2009, or against Barca in 2011. The potential is there in abundance, if only luck would smile at him, once...

That boy is still only 22, he can overcome all the troubles, move on and officially announce his groundbreaking come-back.


Never too late.

I agree Iras, I will NEVER give up on Pato, I don't care what offers come, I truly believe he will make a comeback. He just needs a season with no injuries and from there he will only grow and get better. I admit, there are times I say "ugh, we should have just sold him for the 30 million" but than I realize, than what?

I hope so badly he can recover from this and come back next season and show the world what a BEAST he truly is.

Milan31 wrote:I agree Iras, I will NEVER give up on Pato, I don't care what offers come, I truly believe he will make a comeback. He just needs a season with no injuries and from there he will only grow and get better. I admit, there are times I say "ugh, we should have just sold him for the 30 million" but than I realize, than what?

I hope so badly he can recover from this and come back next season and show the world what a BEAST he truly is.

I damn well hope so.

Great read

Just the fact he likes Beyonce makes me want him out of milan

pato avatar/signature month????

We still need him out ... he's still worth some money . His injuries are inevitable as our Milanello became one of the worst in Europe in just a couple of years . For his own good I want Ancelotti to get him because he and Leonardo are the only persons in this whole world who know how to use him .

Very interesting article! You should post more often here uzee

pUsHa wrote:We still need him out ... he's still worth some money . His injuries are inevitable as our Milanello became one of the worst in Europe in just a couple of years . For his own good I want Ancelotti to get him because he and Leonardo are the only persons in this whole world who know how to use him .

You want one of the best talents in the world out of Milan ? Like Inter agreed to sell , the way more injury prone Ronaldo to Real Madrid , with the same idea in mind.."we ll get money and he's always injury prone" and they never found someone like him again..

Pato will be back to his best , it's inevitable . We can't lose Pato , he's our future ,even if some don't see it right now because of his dissapointing season.

But i still remember the days when many agreed that we could sell everyone in the team but Pato and how this player has saved us on numerous occasions.. At a younger age , with a worse Milan squad than this one.

And in my opinion , Pato's worth way more than 30m . The moment he returns to his best , not even double this sum won't be enough .

On the subject of Pato returning, it's definitely not inevitable. Wde have to accept that there's a good chance he's done and he'll never fully return.

It just, 'When do we give up?' that's the question.

Great read though, thanks Uzee!

Dante13 wrote:

pUsHa wrote:We still need him out ... he's still worth some money . His injuries are inevitable as our Milanello became one of the worst in Europe in just a couple of years . For his own good I want Ancelotti to get him because he and Leonardo are the only persons in this whole world who know how to use him .

You want one of the best talents in the world out of Milan ? Like Inter agreed to sell , the way more injury prone Ronaldo to Real Madrid , with the same idea in mind.."we ll get money and he's always injury prone" and they never found someone like him again..

Pato will be back to his best , it's inevitable . We can't lose Pato , he's our future ,even if some don't see it right now because of his dissapointing season.

But i still remember the days when many agreed that we could sell everyone in the team but Pato and how this player has saved us on numerous occasions.. At a younger age , with a worse Milan squad than this one.

And in my opinion , Pato's worth way more than 30m . The moment he returns to his best , not even double this sum won't be enough .

Ofcourse I do ... he just can't play 2 consecutive games without getting injured . It's not like somebody is tackling the hell out of him its his damn muscles ... he has the muscles of a sprinter wich are damn fast but tend to get injured when too much pressure is put on them , and we know how Allegri put's loads of work on everybody in trainings . I don't doubt his talent dont misunderstand me ... but relying on an injury prone player as our future isnt the way to go forward . And add to this that Allegri has no idea how to use him to his best wich makes me want him out of here more ...

Forza Rossoneri wrote:Very interesting article! You should post more often here uzee

i post here whenever i get free time on my hands,but im lurking this forums since the lithium forums days

about OT: yesterday i was reading an article from a book "BARCA: THE MAKING OF THE GREATEST TEAM IN THE WORLD" and i found a intresting thing and i'll quote it here

Ingla takes up the story: “We were disappointed with the fragility of Messi and his repetitive muscle strains. After the Celtic match we constructed a holistic plan for his future performance: to manage the number of meals he had; what type of food he should eat; how many hours of sleep he had to get; what type of stretching he had to do every day. It was a multi-faceted plan to keep him healthy and to minimise injuries. We put lots of work into it and invested lots of money to help him

Barcelona did this meeting when Messi got injured against Celtic,my point is that why can't we do the same with Pato?

here's the article's link if someone is intrested in reading it http://www.goal.com/en/news/3846/barcelona-making-of-the-greatest/2011/11/18/2760500/ronaldinho-deco-were-completely-out-of-control-to-unleash

@uzee

What ? You're asking as of now the worst training facility in Europe to do such things ? Maybe in the days of Ancelotti something like this could have been possible , they were competent enoug then to get the team in full form at the end of the season petty injuries were the least of our worries back then ... too many personel have changed since then ... to the worst , too bad .

Pato is worth more than 30M and it is disappointing how people would let him go for so little just because of his injuries. He WILL be back, look at RVP. I hope next year will be the year for him.

Ya uzee I agree, I don't understand why Milan don't invest in his health and this will definitely prevent anymore further injuries. Than again, Brazilians are known to be more "party animals" so I don't know how determined and focused Pato is, but if he does focus more on recovering and stop his injuries, I believe it is possible.