Al Sadd’s Tabata (centre) scored a hat-trick in his last match against Al Khor. PICTURE: Anas Khalid


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Rodrigo Tabata is a complete pro. It is obvious as you watch him doing his drills. His enthusiasm has not dimmed one bit as he trains with Al Sadd after his transfer on loan from Al Rayyan a few weeks back. It’s clear that he has settled in well with his new colleagues and enjoying himself.
In the twilight of his career, you can see that he knows the importance of looking after himself as he does long cool-down stretches after other players in the team have headed to the shower. So how did it all begin for this wonderful playmaker?  Who encouraged him, supported him and what does he still hope to achieve?
Sitting down for a chat with qsl.com.qa at the Al Sadd stadium, the stocky Brazilian animatedly explains that it all began when he was 12.
 “My mother and father used to drive me to the matches, it was over an hour’s drive but they supported my dreams to become a professional player. Sometimes it was difficult because times where hard so I couldn’t always play…my father would always support me but never with too much pressure. He wanted me to enjoy it. It’s funny, the first ever team I joined I was playing in goal but a new coach came and put me in midfield. Thank God!”
You can see that he is aware of the debt he owes to his parents and the gratitude is clearly written across his face. He then observes that there are many people on a footballer’s journey that help and support, including managers who can really improve and change a player’s career for the better.
As the conversation turns to Qatar and Paulo Autouri, the coach who brought him here, his eyes suddenly light up.
 “At the time I was playing in Turkey,” states the number 10 “They told me there is a Brazilian coach called Paulo, he called me and explained everything. I was playing in the Europa League at the time and he was a very good coach, he got us playing some great stuff, you know? Pass and move, pass and move.” A blur of hand signals gesturing energetically about how Rayyan used to play and how he ended up in Qatar.
“I had good luck because as soon as I arrived, in the first six months I managed to win with my team the Emir Cup, I even scored two goals in the final and so eventually Rayyan bought me from my Turkish club.”
He’s being modest; Tabata is a quality player, intelligent, incisive, a game changer. Luck had nothing to do with it, he is a hard worker, a side to his game not mentioned often enough. With hard work and a sublime touch, it was no surprise to the people in the know that he was a wanted man and that Al Rayyan were keen to make the move permanent.
He starts to talk in depth about tactics and his philosophy regarding football, eventually he picks up on a comment to do with how players evolve as they get older.
“I think the main thing is that you gain experience as you get older. When you are young, you want to do everything in the match but as I got older, I learned to wait for my chance. Sometimes when you stay in your position, it’s better than running around and getting tired, you learn to be more disciplined. It gets easier with age. ”
Clearly he understands the game at a deep level and could talk for hours about its many veneers of complexity. Unavoidably the topic of what happened at Al Rayyan this season creeps up and it obvious that he feels sad about their current predicament.
“I think it is a mixture of things, at the end of last season they changed a lot of players, a lot of the experienced players left and so there were just young players left but in football you need to have a balance.” …”It’s not that the young players aren’t good enough, the young ones at Rayyan have a lot quality and potential and in 2 or 3 years they will be at a very good level. Normally, when a team is starting to win and is playing well, that is when you put one or two or three young players, but slowly so that the team can adjust accordingly.”
For anyone who hasn’t seen Tabata play, he belies his years and is a player with total composure and great vision which saw him voted the player of the year in 2011/12. That season, his stats spoke for themselves with 17 goals and 9 assists. A great season by anybody’s standards.
He says excitedly “Yes I will always cherish that moment, the last three weeks of that season I played very well.”
 Might he be able to recapture some of that form going into the last few games for Al Sadd this season?
Suddenly, seriousness takes over his demeanor, “At the start of every season I set myself some objectives, for example I will try to score 12 goals and give 12 assists.”
He adds, “Last season I scored 14 goals and I gave 20 assists I think. This season I am disappointed but I had too many injuries so I have to just accept it. It has been frustrating this season, when I start to play good, I got injured but that’s life sometimes.”
The talk turns to Al Sadd, the former AFC Champions League winners. “I must state that this wasn’t my decision, it was ultimately Rayyan’s decision.”
He adds, “The team was not in a good situation so I guess they felt like they wanted to act quickly and stop the team from sliding down the table. They changed the foreign players like me and Nilmar and I guess they wanted a fresh start with new players.” He says before turning the conversation back to more positive thoughts.
“So now I am at Al Sadd, on loan and I am very happy. Sadd too have good players such as Khalfan who I think is very good, there is also (Hassan) Haidoos and of course Raul (Gonzalez) and Nadir (Belhadj). I have looked at my Prozone stats and they have improved a lot since I joined so I can’t complain. I have doubled the amount of times I touch the ball and I am making even less mistakes so this is good.”
When asked what current QSL player would he’d like to see join him at Al Sadd, he smiles and without a second thought, he says.
“I think to be honest we have a great team here at Al Sadd but I really like one defender who plays for Rayyan, his name is Nathan Otávio Ribeiro. He is a great guy, he is my friend and fantastic defender, he is fast, he has quality.”
Then for the second time, his lightheartedness and smiles are replaced with thoughtful, considered answers when asked about who was the best player he has ever played with? He takes his time to answer, pausing for a few seconds, and then the answer comes.
”For me it would have to be Ze Roberto, he played at Gharafa if you remember? He was a good player, very professional, he always gave 100%. Everybody liked him; nobody had a bad word to say about him. He was a great team player; he gave plenty of encouragement to all the players, a true leader. I played with him a lot at Santos.”
Towards the end of the interview, the question which most footballers dread, pops up, retirement. However Tabata seems to take it in his stride.
“Perhaps I will do it in Qatar, I like it here, but who knows. A lot of Brazilian players got back to Brazil and end their career playing there so maybe I will do the same.”
So finally the last question has arrived, tell us about a side to Tabata that people might not know about?
“Well to be honest I am a very simple kind of guy, being with my family is what makes me happiest. I have a farm back in Brazil. It’s in the countryside, I am like a ‘Brazilian Bedu’” he says with a smile on his face.
“I don’t really like the city life to be honest. The countryside is beautiful in Brazil and I love to spend time there with my family.”