Emiliano Marcondes may see himself as a Dane but his Brazilian blood still burns in him when he's on the pitch.

The 22-year-old has a Danish father, Kim, while his Brazilian mother sadly passed away in 2012.

The Brentford new boy did speak Portuguese as a youngster but time had eroded that knowledge but his passion for Brazilian players still burns.

“I feel more Danish. I have lived in Denmark my whole life and I don't see my mother anymore; she's from Brazil When I was little, I could speak Brazilian but it's not been spoken for many years,” he said.

“When I was younger it was many Brazilian players such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo but when I got older it was more Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo

“My dad was a big fan of Brazil when I was young and a lot of them were winning titles. Brazilian players have always been my big idols.

“My dad always talks about Pele and showed me a lot of YouTube clips of him. He's my dad's biggest idol.”

That samba style is etched into him and it made him stand out, coming through the ranks in Denmark.

He added: “I feel I have something different to the other Danish guys. In Denmark, we are nice people and I think I'm not as nice when I play.

“I have more character I think. I can feel that. Sometimes they say he's too fierce with referees but when I got older, they said okay he's just a different character and accepted it.”

Emiliano Marcondes

He explained further: “I was an attacker when I was young. After some years, I wasn't the biggest so they put me as a number 10 and it fit me even better as I think I have a vision for my team-mates. I became a number 10 when I was 17 and still scored a lot of goals in the youth league.

“Quite early, I came up to the first team. It was a difficult time for me, coming from the U19 to the Superliga.

“It took me three years to get comfortable and play my type of football and suddenly it came.”

Marcondes' father, though, remains his biggest influence and that much was made clear in the documentary about his move to Brentford.

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He revealed: “I think after my mother passed away, he had to be there the whole time. He's a musician and he wants my big brother to be a musician.

“He didn't like it but when I was born he was happy for me to do what I liked. He could see from the first time I could walk I was shooting balls.

“He gave me the ball all the time and tried to push me to be better. I'm thankful for him today.”

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