Alisson reveals agony of father’s death that forced him to miss funeral | Football | Sport

Alisson Becker has opened up about the heart-wrenching loss of his father in 2021, revealing that it was the unwavering support from his Liverpool teammates and football rivals that helped him endure the tragedy, especially as he missed the funeral.

The Brazilian shot-stopper has just celebrated becoming a two-time Premier League champion, following Liverpool’s emphatic 5-1 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. The celebrations were a stark contrast to the Reds’ previous title victory in 2020, when Alisson and his comrades had to lift the trophy in an eerily quiet stadium due to Covid restrictions.

In the aftermath of their first win and seven months later, Alisson was struck by personal grief when his father, Jose Becker, tragically drowned in Brazil. With travel restrictions still in force, Alisson faced the harrowing decision of flying back for the funeral or staying with his then-pregnant wife Natalia.

“When I got the call that my father died, I was an ocean away from home. I was in Liverpool, and we were in the middle of the 2020-2021 season. His death was sudden. A complete shock,” Alisson penned in The Players’ Tribune, capturing his anguish.

“My mother called me and told me that there had been an accident and that my father had drowned at the lake by our house. All I remember was I felt so lost. It did not seem possible that someone like my father could actually be gone.”

Alisson has opened up about the devastating impact of his father’s death on his perspective of football and life, admitting that upon returning to work with Liverpool, he struggled with breaking down in training, though manager Jurgen Klopp had told him to take all the time he needed, and not to rush back to play matches.

“When I returned to training a few days after the funeral, I would think about my father at random times. I couldn’t help it… I would have these flashes and I would start crying. Right there in training,” Alisson said.

“When he died, it destroyed me. I could not even think about football. I had to keep remembering that I even played football, and that we were fighting for the top four,” he shared.

Dealing with this tragedy amid the pandemic added another layer of complexity, as Alisson struggled with the logistics of returning home during a perilous time in Brazil.

“My wife was pregnant with our third child, and Covid was exploding again in Brazil. Her doctor said that it was risky for her to travel, so she had to stay in Liverpool with our kids.”

The support received from the football community provided some solace in these dark times, as Alisson revealed the overwhelming response from colleagues and rivals alike.

“The following two or three days were a blur. The next thing I remember was all the flowers coming to our house. From Virgil, Andy, Fabinho, Firmino, Thiago…. on and on. All my brothers.”

Not only did his fellow Liverpool teammates send their sympathies, but significant figures from the wider football world also reached out, including Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti.

This gesture of kindness left a profound impression on Alisson, highlighting a moment where rivalry and competition on the pitch gave way to human compassion off of it. “I don’t think those people can understand how much something small like that means when you’re suffering. It was a reminder that even your biggest rivals recognise the human behind the name on the kit.”

Despite his Liverpool teammates banding together to secure him a seat on a private jet to Brazil, Alisson chose to stay beside his wife Natalia, who was pregnant and deeply cherished by Jose, instead of attending the funeral.

Alisson revealed the turmoil behind his decision: “But it was an impossible situation, because at that time, in order to fly out of the country, you had to be quarantined in a hotel for 14 days when you returned. The thought of coming back from my father’s funeral and being trapped in a hotel room by myself for two weeks was hard, but the worst part was imagining my wife on her own for that long. She was going to be in her third trimester, and anything could happen.”

The Brazilian shot-stopper shared the agonising details of the call to his family where he announced his decision: “I called my mom and my brother, and I explained the situation, and that was the most brutal phone call of my life. We cried a lot, but in the end, I decided that my father would want me to stay with my children and his ‘favourite daughter’ and protect them, no matter how hard it was. That was how he lived his life, and that was the best way to honour him.”

Confronted with grief and border restrictions, Alisson attended his father’s funeral virtually.

He added: “We had to watch his funeral on FaceTime. My brother held up the phone for the entire service, and I was able to pray and cry with my mother, and even say goodbye to my father at his casket. In that moment, as strange as it sounds, you forget that you’re on a screen. All your memories and your love bridge the distance, and you are speaking to your father in eternity.

“It’s true, I didn’t have anything left to tell him. We had already said it all. The only thing left for me to say was, ‘thank you.’ Not just for being my father, but for being my friend.”