The mother of Jorginho was overwhelmed with emotions after she saw her son’s jersey in the dressing room of the North London side.
Jorginho was nurtured with his parents in the port of Imbituba, a coastal town in the southern part of Brazil.
That was the place Jorginho groomed his talent while his mom, Maria Tereza Freitas spent most of her 24 hours doing the job of a cleaner to make ends meet.
She spent most of her time working to be able to feed her family and earn enough money to buy her son the equipment he would need to become a top footballer.
To prove further how she was active in her son’s life, when she had ample time on her hands she would practice with Jorginho on the beaches of Brazil to make better his technical abilities.
The Italian midfielder in a recent interview spoke about the special bond that exist between him and his mother.
“My mum is my big inspiration,” he said. “She did everything to ensure that I would become the best I could be. She always tried to do her best to educate me and my sister, teach us to be good people in the future, and not just look out for ourselves.”
The Italian speaking about the influence of his mother
While talking about her impact while he was still developing, Jorginho said she played football three times a week after helping him go through some training regimen as a young boy.
“She absolutely loves football and we always talk about it,” he said. “She is always on the phone with me talking about the game, commenting on the games, on everything I’ve done.
“Whenever we speak she tells me about what she thought of my performances. She normally tells me off when she thinks of something that I didn’t do very well. I don’t get many compliments from her, to be honest! She is a tough coach for me.”
Jorginho went on to make his professional debut for Hellas Verona after graduating from the youth team of the club, then he proceeded to play for Napoli, Chelsea and now Arsenal.
The Italian put pen-to-paper to join Arsenal in the winter transfer window in a deal worth an estimated £12 million.
Following his move, Jorginho has assisted the club in keeping their place at the summit of the Premier League, playing 5 games so far.
During the beginning of the week, Maria Tereza Freitas made the trip from Brazil to London to come see her son and whilst the trip was on, she was shown the dressing room of Arsenal.
Based on the videos shown, the mother of Jorginho was teary when she saw the number 20 jersey of her boy.
Jorginho has huge admiration for his mother
Jorginho has expatiated in an interview previously that if not for the backing of his mother, he probably wouldn’t have become a professional footballer.
The Italian international said: “She lives in Brazil, but we are still very, very close. We are in contact all the time and she visits whenever she can to see me and the kids.
“She’s really looking forward to coming to watch me at the Emirates, she can’t wait actually. I don’t know what game it will be yet but it will be very soon for sure.
“When you see your family proud of you, their adrenaline, the passion you have for what you do is what you dream of. It’s what I dreamed of when I was a child.”
