Alisson Becker and Muriel Becker
Liverpool’s new hot-shot goalkeeper Alisson Becker has a brother Muriel Becker who is nearly six years older and the brothers started their career with Internacional.
Muriel was with the first team of Internacional for ten years and he shared the dressing room with Alisson for a few years. In his first season as a professional, Alisson was competing to be the second choice goalkeeper at Inter behind his elder brother. In two years time, he cemented his place as the club’s first choice goalkeeper.
While Alisson moved to Roma in 2016 and to Liverpool in 2018, Muriel joined Portuguese top division club Belenenses in 2017.
Ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Alisson shared the heartwarming story of how his brother helped him become the player he is today The Players Tribune.
“You see, since we were playing the same position for the same club, people were always comparing us. They were like, ‘Is Alisson gonna be as good as Muriel?’ Some said yes, some said no. I didn’t really want to compare myself to my brother … but he gave me something to aim towards. As a professional, I had to compare myself to those who were above me, you know? I always wanted to be better than him, but he’s also super competitive, so he never wanted to lose to me. So in this period at Internacional, we were training hard every day — and I do mean every day — and neither of us wanted to be worse than the other. And let me tell you, that was a huge source of motivation fr us. When I was tired, he’d say, ‘Come on bro, let’s do some more!’ And I’d do it.
“Sometimes it’s so easy to forget how lucky I am. What I definitely won’t forget is who helped me get here. So this summer [at the World Cup], I’m not just gonna play for Brazil … I’m gonna play for my brother, too. And honestly, every time I put on the Brazil shirt, I think about all the training we did together.
“So if you’re reading this, brother, know that every save I make in Russia is yours as well. My success is your success — because we’re part of the same story. And for that, I will always be grateful.”