15 fun facts about Roberto Firmino

Firmino was born in Maceio, Alagoas in Brazil. On top of his family's dire economic circumstances, the area he grew up in was heavily ridden with crime. Every day was a fight for survival for the future Liverpool star and his loved ones.

As a result, Firmino's parents sheltered him a lot and prevented him from doing many things on his own. It was football which allowed him to escape from the crime which surrounded him and his parent's restrictions.

Some of the greatest talents in world football have been discovered by either managers or excellent scouts whose main purpose is to identify talent and direct them to the path of success.

However, in Firmino's case, it was Marcellus Portella, a dentist of all people, who identified the talent within the Liverpool forward.

Portella was also a surgeon for the local Brazilian team Clube de Regatas Brasil and noticed Firmino, who wasn't getting much attention from others. The doctor decided that the young forward's talent was too special to be hidden and decided to become his representative, helping him join his first academy team at ­Figueirense

Firmino is nowadays primarily associated with being the ideal false-nine and has made the position his own under manager Jurgen Klopp. However, the Brazilian has played various roles throughout his career, from being the main centre-forward to a winger to even being a central midfielder.

In fact, one of the first positions he played during his academy days was as a defensive midfielder!

While the Liverpool forward has become more confident in himself as he has progressed in his career, that wasn't necessarily the case at the beginning.

Firmino had a lack of confidence in himself which also resulted in him not getting opportunities at an early stage despite having all the talent in the world. In fact, for the first two weeks, he let the Figueirense coach wrongly call him Albert because he was too shy to correct him.

Firmino is today the model professional for anyone to follow, someone who gives his best to follow the manager's instructions and help his team. However, during his Hoffenheim days, punctuality wasn't his strongest suit.

In 2011, Firmino, along with his teammate Chinedu Obasi, was dropped from the matchday squad to face Bayer Leverkusen due to repeatedly coming late to training.

Firmino got married to his partner Larissa Pereira in 2017 in his hometown, the city of Maceio. The Brazilian chose his partner in attack, compatriot and former Liverpool forward Phillipe Coutinho as his best man to mark the special occasion.

Tattoos are synonymous with Firmino. His body is a canvas for art, symbolising everything he loves and believes in his life about. The Brazilian's family heavily features in his tattoos, with a picture of his father and mother present on his right arm. Equal importance is given to his religion, with the phrase "God is faithful" appearing on his chest and the word "Deus" (Portuguese for God) visible on his neck.

The one blemish in Firmino's otherwise stainless record was when he was caught drunk driving in 2016 and later charged with the crime in 2017 after admitting to it.

He had his driving license revoked for up to a year and was ordered to pay a fine of £20,000 for endangering his own life and that of others.

Firmino is fluent in three languages and can speak them with ease. These include his mother tongue Portuguese, along with German and English.

His knowledge of German helped build a rapport with teammate Takumi Minamino. The Japanese forward, like his Brazilian teammate, is fluent in German and hit it off immediately with him, thus helping him acclimatise to his new surroundings.

That Firmino loves his cars is an understatement. One of the Brazilian's favourite hobbies is to collect some of the world's most luxurious automobiles by spending what he earns from playing football. His awesome collection includes cars such as the Porsche Panamera, Lamborghini Urus, Rolls Royce Phantom, Ferrari 458 Italia, Range Rover, and Porsche Cayenne.

The quadruple of Salah, Firmino, Mane, and Coutinho were christened as Liverpool's "Fab Four" inspired by The Beatles, who also came from Merseyside.

This group of players was firing on all cylinders during the first half of the 2017/18 campaign, with all players having their personal best seasons statistically. Their tenure was short-lived as Coutinho left during the January window.

Firmino is famous for his various celebrations, one of them being where he covers his eye with one of his hands which he first used after his winner against PSG in the Champions League.

When asked what the celebration signifies, he stated that he wanted to communicate to the fans that nothing had happened to him to worry about after he suffered an eye abrasion in Liverpool's league game against Tottenham Hotspur. Since then, other players have also copied his celebration.

An openly devout Christian and God-fearing man, Firmino was baptised at fellow Brazilian and Liverpool teammate Alisson's house.

Firmino shared an Instagram post on his profile wherein he can be seen in Alisson's pool being baptised by Brazilian singer Isaias Saad, as the goalkeeper shuts his eyes, clearly emotionally touched by the scene happening before him.

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Firmino etched his name into Liverpool's history books for all eternity by having the distinct honour of scoring their 1000th goal at Anfield in a game against Crystal Palace on 19th January 2019.

The goal was Liverpool's second in a seven-goal thriller that saw the Reds barely edge out a victory against Crystal Palace. In the long run the win didn't mean much as the Merseyside club lost out on the title to Manchester City, but fans will forever associate it with Firmino making history.

Fans were most pleasantly surprised by Firmino's shining white teeth one day out of nowhere. However, it wasn't just fans that admired his new smile but even his teammates.

Firmino and then teammate Coutinho visited famed dentist Robbie Hughes, and soon many others followed and got their teeth worked on by the renowned dental surgeon, including manager Klopp.