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Guilherme embraces life as face of Houston Dynamo FC
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- Guilherme embraces life as face of Houston Dynamo FC
Guilherme embraces life as face of Houston Dynamo FC
By Charles Boehm
Brazil to MLS: Guilherme reflects on family, Neymar & joy
Houston is a land of highways, a sprawling place where car culture is deeply woven into daily life. So it's fitting that Guilherme has adopted a long commute from his family's comfortable suburban home to Shell Energy Stadium, or Houston Dynamo FC 's training facility on the south side of town – trips that can easily take an hour each way, depending on traffic.
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It's a deeply North American routine, one the Dynamo's star Brazilian happily embraced to mesh with the location of the school his young children, Pietra and Guilherme Junior, fell in love with when their family relocated from São Paulo over the winter.
"As a father, we do everything for our children," Guilherme explained in Portuguese during the latest edition of 'Breakaway,' the video series which takes fans behind the scenes with MLS's biggest stars and stories. "I increased the distance I'm away from the club a little, but it's nothing that is too exhausting. On the contrary, I have my peaceful time here too.
"I like to joke with [my wife] Tainá, let's suppose that it wasn't such a good day at work, like any worker. Then I tell her, wow, I have 40 minutes to get home, so I reflect, and then I arrive already relaxed. It's never a good idea to take out what we experience at work inside our home; we have to know how to separate things, even if we are obsessed with football."
Instant impact
To be fair, it seems the 31-year-old playmaker hasn't had to process too many bad days at the office.
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Guilherme has proven a quick study in his debut MLS campaign. He leads the Dynamo – by healthy margins – in goals (16), assists (9) and key passes (61) as La Naranja rebound from last year's disappointing 12th-place finish and settle into the thick of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs race.
That makes him a chief protagonist in Houston's Matchday 31 clash with their Texas Derby adversaries FC Dallas on Saturday night (8:30 pm ET | Apple TV ), a fixture with major standings implications, not to mention two decades of history and El Capitán, a replica 18th-century cannon that serves as this rivalry's trophy, on the line.
"He's just gifted," Houston head coach Ben Olsen told MLSsoccer.com last week. "We always talk about how these guys need transition; some players need the team to transition – system-based players – and it takes a little time to acclimate to the league. And he's just so gifted, the game makes sense to him.
"If you take that away, he can do this. If you take the other part of this, he's got the ability to stretch you, or he can come underneath. He can create his own shot, he's good in the air, he can get you off the dribble, but he's clever enough to get you in behind. He has just a wonderful skill set that's well-rounded."
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Making his mark
Equal parts creative and committed, Guilherme has been both productive and entertaining. He earned an MLS All-Star nod and has built a strong case for Newcomer of the Year honors: his 25 goal contributions rank among the highest totals of any player eligible for the award.
He reminded everyone of his quality in Wednesday's wild 3-3 draw at San Diego FC , a midweek barnburner in which he scored twice – one of them an AT&T Goal of the Matchday nominee – and assisted on his team's other tally.
"Since the beginning, when the conversations started with him, I could see that he would come here to try to make a difference," said his Dynamo colleague and compatriot Artur .
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"We talked a few times before he arrived, and his mindset was to come and compete – not just come here to, like, play and see what happens. He came to compete. He would like to come and fight for trophies and make a mark, and I think he's showing that."
Artur received a positive scouting report from his older brother Norberto, who played alongside Guilherme at Brazilian side Sport Recife in 2019 and has become both a friend and unofficial translator for the Designated Player's banter around the training ground.
"He likes to joke, but also, when he needs to be serious, he's serious," noted Artur. "He likes to win, so whenever we [need] to improve in some things, he will try to go after and we talk a lot about the on-field stuff. But he likes to joke, he likes to enjoy having a good talk and a laugh with the teammates."
Neymar connection
Guilherme arrived in H-town as the centerpiece of Houston's busy offseason roster overhaul, with a strong track record across several clubs in his homeland and solid stints in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It's safe to say, however, that the signing was not universally hailed around MLS.
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"There's a narrative out there saying that he's not a goalscorer, but I find it hard to believe," said Dynamo president of soccer Pat Onstad when his squad's top reinforcements were introduced in January. "He's averaged 23 points, goals and assists, over the last two years. So I'm not sure where that's coming from … I think he'll be very successful in our league."
Perhaps we all should have placed more weight on Guilherme's most prominent endorsement: from Neymar, his teammate at Santos FC. There, they became fast friends and a potent duo who steered the São Paulo giants through a relegation fight after the global icon rejoined his childhood club last year.
"Almost half of the goals I scored for Santos involved Neymar, so it was a huge privilege for me," said Guilherme. "We related very well, both on and off the field, and it's great that it worked out so well. And off the field, it was very natural.
"I think Neymar has some characteristics similar to mine in terms of personality: a high-spirited guy, always joking, always happy, a total joker in everyday life, and our connection was there from the first day he arrived."
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The two still keep in regular contact, and linked up again this summer at the Brazilian national team's World Cup base camp, where Guilherme gifted Neymar a Dynamo jersey and pitched him on a Houston move, mindful of reports that FC Cincinnati , too, had sought to recruit the superstar to MLS.
Born leader
The sunny disposition that won over the brightest Brazilian star of his generation has also lifted the Dynamo's collective spirits.
Guilherme readily embraces the on-field expectations of a DP, as well as the responsibilities of a senior figure in the locker room and prominent face of the club, making community appearances and visiting La Naranja's academy teams to offer a veteran's perspective on their pathway towards the professional level.
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"The reception was the best possible," said Guilherme. "They embraced me in such a spectacular way, the Americans, the Brazilians, the Mexicans, regardless of where the player is from or [where] the person who works at the club is from.
"The truth is that Houston Dynamo embraced me, gave me freedom – and freedom is different from license, right? So it's a freedom along with responsibility that I carry with me in the lightest way possible, and I enjoy every training session, every game, every trip. So every moment here is very important to me."
Putting down roots
The speed and scope of his impact have vindicated the club's recruitment approach, guided by technical director Asher Mendelsohn's analytical expertise and further shaped by Onstad's extensive experience in the MLS landscape.
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Guilherme's career has spanned many thousands of miles, across Brazil and beyond. When he graduated from Grêmio's youth system 11 years ago, limited first-team opportunities led to a whopping five loan spells, taking him from one end of the nation to the other. In all, he's worn the colors of 10 different clubs as a senior professional.
When the Dynamo came calling, their presentation connected well with a family man and devout Christian ready for stability, responsibility and a North American experience.
"One of the last things we actually sell the player on is the actual club," explained Onstad in a September media availability. "So normally we're pretty heavy selling them about the league, and then really, I sell Houston: I sell the people in Houston, the culture in Houston, what it's like to live here – the [low] taxes, that helps!
"A lot of foreign players come in and they have this picture of the American dream, of a white picket fence and a big house, and I'm like, 'you're coming to the right place, my friend.'"
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It's been such an ideal fit, in fact, that La Naranja now face the concept of being overly dependent on Guilherme, whose steady output has compensated for some drastic shortcomings up top. Remarkably, the goals scored vs. Minnesota United last weekend by summer reinforcements Lyle Foster and Duncan McGuire are the first two from a Houston striker all season.
Still, that's a champagne problem for a side battling for a top-four finish in the Western Conference.
"He's carried a big load for us – it's too much. So we as a team have to continue to work on whether we can take some of that pressure off of him," said Olsen. "It's not healthy to live on one guy scoring and providing that much.
"But when you need something, you need a play, it's nice to have that type of player on the field for us."
