Arsenal have a feature on their YouTube channel where two players ask each other quick fire questions. It’s usually pretty funny (Mertesacker and Gibbs is good), but the latest one gives us an incredible insight into the life of Gabriel.
The Brazilian defender joined from Villarreal in January 2015, and impressed initially, but struggled a little last season. Communication issues were mentioned more than once with Arsene Wenger saying he wanted the player to improve his English.
In this new video, Gabriel is paired up with David Ospina, whose face is a picture when he tries to explain the concept of fancy dress to his baffled looking teammate.
As it goes on we discover that Gabriel has never read a book in his life, doesn’t watch TV, and hates eggs.
You get the sense that when he’s not training, he simply sits in a room waiting until it’s time to go to bed, at which point he can get up, go training, then sit in that room waiting … etc.
It’s really quite something, check it out below.
Hahah oh Gabby <3
I found it quite endearing that his confusion wasn't even due to language difficulties. He just legitimately doesn't do, or know anything outside of football.
I think he is from a poverty stricken background where they don’t do halloween
I am not poor. But i don’t do Halloween either.
Yes, but you know the concept…
Que?…
They have far more celebrations and enjoyable moments in poor places than you ever experienced. This is ironical but true. Stop being a makeshift sociologist.
Actually, in brazil we do not do halloween. Most of regular people never even had the chance or de will to put a costume in 31th and do out asking for candies.
He clearly have a poor background and it explains a lot of he’s answers, but not this one.
Halloween isn’t really a thing in Brazil so it’s very likely he grew up without ever knowing about it.
yeah but Karnival is..
I think language might have came into it a little. His first language is Portuguese not Spanish, though they’re similar and he’s had time to learn it in Spain, he doesn’t seem the sort of person to pick things up quickly.
I’m mexican and lived in brazil for a while; spanish and portuguese are not that similar and can see how gabriel didn,t recognize many of the words… All questions were in spanish, which was easy for ospina. I still found the video funny though… !!
Tbh with the recent articles on this site being comedic in nature I fully expected to arrive at a blank page upon clicking on the link for this article.
Wow. Just… wow. Dude must live in a vacuum. Ospina comes across as a lovely chap.
Blogs, you know how to make me laugh. Chuckled alot imagining Gabby sitting in a room waiting to go sleep. Thanks
This confirms my theory that gabriel was created in a brazilian lab for the sole purpose of assassinating diego costa after he betrayed brazil and played for spain. As you can see, Gabby has no idea what halloween because he never had a childhood and the football club dont let him go outside for fear he will encounter a costa lookalike and murder them.
Remember that flick out at Costa that got him sent off? That wasn’t just a flick, he had essence of pulled hamstring distilled from the Arsenal medical lab applied to his studs. Costa will suffer from recurrent hamstring injuries for the rest of his career.
Revenge is best served cold.
Ending the life of a Costa lookalike sounds more like a mercy killing then murder to me. XD
A true assassin. Always preparing and waiting for the next mission, no time for distractions.
‘Ice cold favela killa’
Like eggs. You wouldn’t believe how many assassination attempts have failed because of eggs.
He maybe rich, but deep down, he never left that favella.
The fella from the ‘villa.
Favourite tv show? Sport. What a lad.
Doesn’t care about anything other than football. Elite mentality.
How about Ospina’s answer to “favourite movie?”
“The Sixth Man.”
Looked it up, and it’s an obscure 1997 American basketball comedy starring Marlon Wayans & Kadeem Hardison. Ospina and Gabriel, what a pair of lads.
No movie with Kadeem Hardison can ever be obscure, my friend.
Didn’t he mean sixth sense tho?
Yeah, but even when he said “sport” it looked like a guess. When he said he doesn’t watch TV I suspect he meant Ever. Maybe he’s heard a rumour that Arsenal are on TV sometimes so assumed sport would be a nice Arsenaly answer..
It’s moving to learn about his past. He’s a simple lad, who didn’t have anything except football growing up. His childhood was very different from ours. To have risen from that sort of circumstances to where he is now is in itself commendable. He comes across as a shy sort of a guy, someone who is yet to adapt completely to the new surroundings, new culture and language. This has also reflected in some of his performances on the pitch. I believe the sooner he adapts to life in England, his performances will improve and will look more assured on… Read more »
Absolutely. I live in Brazil and know quite a few guys like him. Lovely to the core, but completely unaware of anything at all outside of their own experiences.
His talent and natural discipline has pulled him out of that situation but considering the extreme strictures of maintaining yourself in elite sport, I doubt there has been much time for him to get the general education which could really help him.
He’s a fucking legend for getting himself this far.
Footballers generally have quite a lot of spare time.
Yeah wow, this was quite educational 🙂 Do we have a song for Gab? He deserves one
Even a search for ‘Gabriel Arsenal girlfriend’ reveals nothing.
Arsenal should put him on a programme that involves learning English well, watching television to see past matches so he can think how to avoid his mistakes and getting out a bit.
That’s because he’s got a wife.
No images on Google but a good shout. And he has a son.
get a load of the president of the Gabriel Fan Club over here
It’s more that he’s got OCD for research…
He is married.
He has a wife and son, they’re on his Instagram. They look like they live a fairly normal life, there’s even a pic of his kid being hugged by Gunnersaurs on his wife’s account.
Gunnersaurs? How many Gunnersaurs are there?
I’m sure if Gabriel played in goal he’d be Rene Heugita.
Let’s be fair, his first language is Portuguese not Spanish. Probably why he struggled with a few of the questions. And I grew up in a 3rd world country too and didn’t have a tv till I was 16, so I see where he’s coming from.
But not liking eggs is absolutely unforgivable
i speak spanish and his spanish is perfect. Gabriel comes accross as very naive in this interview. He plays along with the laughs as though not quite realising that he’s slightly being mocked. I felt quite sorry for him.
Not if you are a chicken.
He might be allergic to them.
Arsenal didn’t scout Gabriel, he scouted Arsenal
Some context might be in order for that frankly bewildering video. I assume this exchange was in Spanish (already Gabriel’s second language) and I think that part of his apparent incomprehension can be put down to… actual incomprehension. It’s also worth noting that Gabriel grew up in a favela in Sao Paulo so I doubt he would have received much by way of formal education. Certainly in the video he seemed to be struggling to read the questions put in front of him. Someone with better knowledge of Sao Paulo might be able to provide some indication as to how… Read more »
I can imagine he is the winter soldier… woken up before each mission with instructions to destroy opponent strikers
Ospina: What is a defenders name ?
Gabi: A defender has no name.
If we don’t start nicknaming him Grey Worm now, we need to hang up our supporting… boots?
Huevos means balls as well as eggs. Gabriel thought he meant balls….
Ah, I thought so, from the looks. It’s the same in German.
Same in Serbian!
fuck Serbia.
Same reaction in the Santi/Nacho vídeo.
So in Spanish “you can’t make an omelette without breaking balls”?
I bet they don’t have pickled eggs in Spain 🙂
There’s a comment on Youtube says: in the slums of Brazil, surviving was Gabriel’s hobby.
I think that’s quite true.
I hope he at least watches football on TV.
One word. Cringeworthy. At least he’s better at football than being part of modernized society.
He grew up in a shack that his family built by hand in a favela with no running water or electricity with his mum and 5 siblings. Harry Potter and The Sopranos are not generally a part of life in the neighbourhood he grew up in.
…meanwhile, here in Brazil, Halloween is a recent import that only some of the affluent middle class celebrated. It is Celtic in origin.
31st of October is traditionally when you visita your Dead relatives in the cemetary. Suggest to someone they dress up to do so…well…
The children’s day he mentioned is not Halloween, it’s actually Children’s Day and generally it’s the affluent kids who get spoiled even more than usual, whilst kids from Gabriel’s class know ipabout it only vaguely. Hence his suprise and bafflement that this Colombian dude is asking if he dresses up as Dracula.
I found it amusing rather than cringe-worthy.
dont think Gabi needs to read any books, I think you should to better understand the fact that HE CAME FROM A FAVELA, just the fact that he became a professional footballer is staggering enough. I Couldn’t be more impressed.
Absolutely, in a squad where Wilshere is considered to be streetwise because he comes from Stevenage, I’m not sure there’s much understanding that Gabriel is essentially from a different world.
Modernized society isn’t all that great you know. It still creates some real arseholes.
Leave JT out of this!
🙂
Gabriel has quite an inspiring life story, really hoping he turns out to be a success here.
His wife and son are just part of the cover story. He is, indeed, part of a dark and mysterious league of assassins known only as “Verdade Escondida” (The Hidden Truth). His current assignment has been kept a secret but the public caught a glimpse of the plan on September 19th last year when he attempted to backheel his mark to death. Make no mistake; his target is Diego “Fat Annoying Cunt Face” Costa, and last year, he came close to taking him out, but the actions of Costa´s hitherto unknown accomplice Mike Dean meant that the mission had to… Read more »
And help is being brought in to help him in his quest.
https://streamable.com/8rjl
Nice cross-referencing to the other Arsenal news. I am one of those dubious about Vardy, mainly because of his diving. I had forgotten that confrontation with Costa. All is forgiven, Jamie!
I love Costa getting up in Vardy’s grill and then transparently waiting for someone to pull him away/push between them.
I’d love to see if that never intervention never happened. What would Costa do? Nothing at all is my guess.
Once Vardy gives it back, Costa can be seen backing away, it’s only when someone steps in front of them that Costa suddenly becomes a big man.
Mert is such a legend. Love his cheeky grin after almost every question and answe .
Those screencaps are perfect. It’s like watching a psychiatrist trying to communicate with the child from “Room”.
It’s alright Gabby I don’t like eggs much either
I had two boiled eggs this morning and I am rubbish at football.
The man’s a genius! 🙂
He doesn’t watch tv and doesn’t like eggs lol
He watches eggs and he eats TVs. It’s the only possible answer.
Loved Ospina’s reaction at the end.
There is something about his mentality that is outstanding. Guess my upbringing makes me ineligible to guess what that is. But this guy certainly is a role model.
Reminds me of the unsullied.
Best part was Elneny’s sales pitch at the end..
lmao he’s a scruffy looking lad
Some pointed questions though. Seemed like they delved into looking at personal perspective.
How different from the bantered Szczesny & Wilsh over a Cup of Tea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX2NlhfqPiw
Give this poor man a book!
Not sure if anyone pointed out the mistranslation in the subtitles. What’s meant in this context is dressing up, as in a costume, not fancy. I’m pretty sure they don’t do Halloween in much of Latin America. In Mexico, they dress up for Day of the Dead, but that’s a different thing. Anyway, it’s not surprising that he’s lost on something coming from a different culture in his second language.
Professional interpreter for 13 years.
Like Elneny, I feel Wenger needs to break a habit and stop signing low priced potential high return players particularly with the players coming through from academy (Iwobi, Bellerin, Coquelin, possibly Gnabry, Zelalem and Jeff) He has already made numbers with experience in all positions. What he needs to add now is proven quality (Granit, Vardy) All this rubbish about Elneny, he is a decent player but hardly transformative for us. He may yet become good but meanwhile we have a price to pay while he develops. This is the issue. Remember Flamini and Ramsey held midfield without many of… Read more »
But what was your favourite part of the video?
I hope he spends the summer in London or a small town outside Lindon to work on his English. Hopefully as an intern in a book shop
Get that man a game of thrones boxset!
I hate books too
Gabriel does not sleep, He waits.
Gabriel does not use a can opener, He eats the cans whole.
Once Gabriel was bit by a venomous snake. Arter 5 hours of excruciating pain the snake died.
When Gabriel is bored he sits down in the center circle and tells himself jokes that he has never heard before.
The best of these quick fire question videos is definitely Nacho and Santi. Some of Santi’s answers are awesome.
“How do you like your eggs?”
“With a homalette.”
How can you not like that guy?
Things like cultural adaptation need to br taken.into account when.we make signings. Can he speak English? No. Any chance he.ll pick it up fairly quickly? No! Get me the agent of V van.Dijk then. Same with Reyes. I don.tcare how good they are in Spain.if they end up totally bloody lost in England