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Oone way or another, chances are Norwich supporters have been surprised by Gabriel Sara since he swapped Sao Paulo for Norfolk two years ago. Most likely because of the Brazilian’s tigerish performance in midfield, a major driver behind Norwich’s push to return to the Premier League with a double against Leeds, the obstacle between them and championship playoff final. Perhaps through his infectious smile or his near-flawless English.
Maybe they spotted him paddleboarding in Great Yarmouth or stopping his Alaskan malamute, Baloo, named after the bear in The Jungle Book, from chasing seals at Horsey Beach. “It was kind of dangerous because he was trying to swim to catch them,” Sarah says. “I thought, ‘I’m not doing this again!’ He is almost 10 months old and 36 kg, growing all the time. Sometimes Sarah takes his three dogs to the park for a prank. “They have their own formation: 3-on-1,” the 24-year-old says with a laugh. “On weekends I like to walk, I like the sea. I’m still learning how to surf, but I have to wait until the end of the season before I can do that.”
Sarah partly subscribes to the theory that he initially struggled to settle in Norwich after an £8m move from Sao Paulo, as his border collie, Luffy, and corgi, Aurora, had to be quarantined for three months and a half before England could join him. His first dog, who stayed with his parents in Joinville, southern Brazil, was named after the architect of Brazil’s quarter-final loss to France in the 2006 World Cup: Zinedine Zidane. When Sarah found out that Zidane would be retiring soon after, he reviewed videos of him in his prime. “I would say to my dog, ‘Hey, Zizou Zidane,'” he says.
“As a Brazilian kid you felt, ‘We’re going to win the World Cup, look at this team, it’s unbelievable.’ And then we got France and then I didn’t know their players. I saw a bald guy with amazing gold boots and I was like, “Wow.” It was crazy because the best team you’ve ever seen, the players you grew up with, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Dida in goal, this guy just smashed them. He played with real elegance. I was like, ‘Man, what this guy did today was pure football.’ From that day on, I was crazy about him.”
Growing up, Sara’s father, Jorge, who hails from Rio de Janeiro and plays in the country, passed on his appetite for the game to him and his brothers Joao and Samuel. “He grew up in this culture where football means everything. Even now, when I lose, my dad will be sad all weekend.” His father is deeply superstitious and so, after a couple of fruitless visits to Carrow Road earlier in the season, he will step away on Sunday. But he makes no secret of his support for Sarah and Norwich; these days Joinville has a big contingent from the Canary Islands: “The kit guy drives me crazy because every time my dad comes over he says, ‘I need 30 shirts.’
Sara, an easy-going character who makes warm company, was initially skeptical about leaving Sao Paulo, the 20 million-supporter Brazilian institution he joined at 13, but was won over by former Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber. There is even a sense that Sara, the first Brazilian to play for the club, has a higher ceiling than former Norwich stars James Maddison and Emi Buendia. After all, Sarah’s goal is international recognition. “The standard in the Championship is so high and the club, the structure, the ground are amazing and the welcome in the city has been so warm. It was like love at first sight. If I had the chance to do this move again, I would do it 100 times over. It really helped me develop as a player.”
A conversation with São Paulo royalty Rogerio Seni will always remain in the memory. Ceni, Sara’s manager for several years, made 1,237 appearances for the club, playing into his 40s, scoring an incredible 131 goals, 61 free-kicks, 69 penalties and one from open play. A reasonable record for a goalkeeper. Sarah witnessed Ceni’s technique first-hand – “in training he would take free kicks and he didn’t miss, it was amazing” – and soaked up his words of wisdom. “He taught me that when you win a game in Brazil, you buy yourself a week, so you have a week to relax, to relax, to have dinner, to have fun. If you lose: stay home, work, focus on the next game. It shows how passionate people are and it’s a little crazy at the same time. Here, the expectations are high, but it’s different: “Okay, we’re human beings, you know?”
It hasn’t been a smooth upward trajectory up until this point. Norwich were 17th at the start of November after a home defeat to Blackburn, with manager David Wagner feeling the wrath of the supporters. Since then, however, only promoted Leicester and Ipswich, Southampton and Leeds have won more points in the division. “When we were down, of course everyone had their doubts, we heard ‘the manager is going to be sacked’ but everyone felt like, ‘We’re not a bad team, the boss is not a bad manager, so what’s really going on?’ We stopped, had a meeting, and the boss said, “I take the responsibility, you take the responsibility, and we work together.” From there, we started playing more as friends and everything started to click. We’ve been through a lot of bad times, so maybe now is the time to enjoy some good times together.”
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Wagner has been in this position before, lead Huddersfield to the Premier League through the playoffs seven years ago, when team spirit proved king; at the end of the regular season, Wagner gave each of his players custom wristbands emblazoned with their initials and his then-no holds barred motto. For Sara, the concept of the playoffs is new territory. “I’m used to having [league] system where four [teams] they go down, four go up and that’s it. When I came here I said to myself: ‘I don’t feel too fair about the team that are third because they have been there all season.’ If Norwich beat them, he will no doubt feel differently. “It would be very fair,” he says, smiling.
Sarah personally enjoyed a fantastic season. Unsurprisingly, he was named in the FA Championship team of the season and no midfielder in the division has registered more goal contributions (13 goals and 12 assists). Wagner pointed out that Sarah’s numbers are particularly impressive given his team-first mentality, something that shines through when he puts the next six days into perspective. “For me, everything I’ve done this season, if we don’t make it, it won’t be as special,” Sarah says. “We have to put everything that happened behind us and enjoy this new challenge.”
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