​CLAYTON AFONSO: “I’M SO LUCKY TO REPRESENT THIS TEAM”

Our commanding Brazilian centre-back has been a popular addition to the squad this season after enjoying a long professional career in the Far East. To top it all off, he is also a lifelong Corinthians fan!
 
How have your first few months at Corinthian-Casuals been and how helpful is it to have so many Brazilians alongside you?
 
It’s been really nice, staff and players have welcomed me very well and we have a really nice group here. It’s also nice to have other Brazilians as team-mates. I’ve been really lucky here in the UK – Casuals is my third team since I moved to this country and in all of them I have played with some Brazilians.
 
What did you know about this club before you joined?
 
I started to follow Casuals after I saw their game in Brazil against Corinthians in 2015. Before that, I didn’t know about Corinthian-Casuals, but I know it is a very respected club and a historical team, and I’m so lucky to represent a team like this.
 
Are you a Corinthians supporter?
 
I’m 100% a Corinthians fan and to play for Casuals is really an honour for me, just to represent an historical team like this is special.
 
What is your football background?
 
I started playing really young in Brazil, representing a lot of teams, and then I saw an opportunity to play in Japan, which I took. I stayed almost two years there, then I moved to Hong Kong, where I ended up playing for around 11 years.
 
Tell us a bit more about your time in Japan.
 
I played for two teams in Japan in my first year. The first team was called Shizuoka FC. I don't remember which division it was, but I think it was the fourth or fifth level. At first, it was very difficult for me because the game in Asia is much faster than what I was used to in Brazil, but I managed to adapt quickly.
 
In my second year, I went to a team called Unsommet Iwate Hachimantai, which was at the same level as the other one, but things were much more complicated for me because it was very cold there, and it snowed a lot. We had temperatures of -30 degrees there, but I was lucky enough to play well for them and that’s when a Hong Kong agent invited me to go there. We sat down, talked, and arranged everything for the transfer to play in Hong Kong.
 
What was football like in Hong Kong?
 
Arriving in Hong Kong, the football was fast-paced, like in Japan, but as expected there were more foreigners playing in the league. There was much more quality and competition to get in the teams. For my first two years in Hong Kong, I played in Taipo, winning a national cup, and I was highlighted in the league, which led to interest from one of the big teams in Hong Kong, Eastern FC, to sign me. I kept my contract there for nine years, winning all possible titles in Hong Kong, and having the opportunity to play in the Asian Cup and the Asian Champions League as well.
 
You ended up representing Hong Kong’s national team in a World Cup qualifier. What was that like?
 
Representing Hong Kong was a dream for me. At that moment, things were really difficult because it was when the Covid situation was really bad, but I loved every single moment of the experience – to represent a nation is really something special.
 
What brought you to England and how have you found football here?
 
I moved to the UK to start a new life because the Covid situation was bad in Hong Kong. I’ve noticed British football is a physical game – there is a lot of quality but it’s also very physical, which is different from Asia, where there is very fast-paced game.