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Rio De Janeiro, Brazil | Xinhua | Barcelona and Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho said Saturday that his hunger for success has increased three-fold after his season-long loan at Bayern Munich.
The 28-year-old, who endured a difficult 18 months at Barcelona before being farmed out to the Bundesliga club in July 2019, has rediscovered his confidence since returning to the Camp Nou last month, shining in a central attacking midfield role behind Lionel Messi.
He carried that form into Brazil’s opening 2022 World Cup qualifier against Bolivia on Friday, scoring a goal and providing the cross that led to an own goal from the visitors as the Selecao cruised to a 5-0 win in Sao Paulo.
“I’m aiming to achieve many things this year at both a personal and collective level,” Coutinho told a virtual news conference on Saturday. “I can say that I returned to Spain with a lot of motivation. My desire to work and make things happen in my favor has tripled.”
Coutinho, who was also deployed in a more central role by Brazil coach Tite against Bolivia, said his time at Bayern had taught him the importance of a strong work ethic.
“That’s what I try to do here also in the national team: to push my intensity to the limit to achieve big things,” the former Liverpool player said.
“What I learned at Bayern and what I can stress is the need to train hard. It’s something I’ve always done. But, now, if I have to work three or four times harder than normal, I’ll do it. I’ve been working on my physical fitness and I’m feeling really good. The intensity of the training is something that Bayern take very seriously and you can see that the players benefit from that.”
Despite showing some of the quality that made Barcelona reportedly pay Liverpool 145 million euros to sign him, Coutinho is not interested in attracting the spotlight.
“I’m only thinking about the team and doing what the coach asks,” he said. “Hopefully by doing that I can help my teammates to win matches,” he added.
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Xinhua
