Daniel Penha is feeling right at home at Western United after falling in love with Australia. The Brazilian-born star reveals his dream of playing for the Socceroos as he sits down to speak with aleagues.com.au at the club’s Tarneit base.
Close your eyes and picture Daniel Penha in the Green and Gold of the Socceroos.
It could happen if the A-Leagues maestro gets his way.
The Western United star is over 15,900 kilometres away from Brazil, the country of his birth, however Australia has his heart. So much so that he not only wants to retire Down Under but has serious dreams about playing for the Socceroos.
Per FIFA eligibility rules, Penha must have spent five years living in Australia to acquire a new nationality.
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“I want to stay here. I want an Australian passport because I’m looking to play for the national team if this could happen,” Penha said as he sat down with aleagues.com.au at Western United’s base in Tarneit.
“It’s one of my dream’s, 100%. Maybe a month ago I told my father and he had a huge smile because I told him, imagine if I get an Australian passport, play for the national team and at a World Cup or something like that.
“We never know, this can happen.”
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Penha had never played outside of Brazil before Arthur Papas and Newcastle Jets came calling in 2021-22. In fact, Papas had been following the Brazilian for four or five years before that.
“To be honest, I never imagined it. Like what I live now, I never imagined. Having good goals, people knowing me in Australia,” added Penha, who has a career-high seven goals to go with three assists this season.
“That makes me happy and it makes my family happy too. I want to show my family this too. They can see on Instagram and TV, but they’re not here to see everything.”
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We’re seated in the grandstand of the Regional Football Facility Tarneit, with the football ground serving as the backdrop ahead of Saturday’s historic fixture against Macarthur FC as Western United play their first Isuzu UTE A-League match at their new venue.
Penha has wrapped up training and there is a big smile on his face – it is a theme throughout the facility with the club finally home – as he reflects on his time with Western United so far.
The 25-year-old was coming off a challenging period abroad. He had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during his big move to South Korea’s Daegu FC, having set the A-Leagues alight with Newcastle Jets in 2021-22.
But John Aloisi and co. were not deterred. That’s why Western United will be in his heart forever.
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“It’s crazy because I’m here maybe eight or nine months but I’ve built my feelings with this club. It’s like I’ve known the people for 10 years,” Penha said.
“I love Australia. Everyone already knows. I love to be here in this club because Australian people are very friendly but in this club, you can see everyone working hard, but helping with what you need. It’s not fake. You can see in people’s faces. This is real. This is good.
“I have a good relationship with everyone here. This club are going to be in my heart forever. It’s not easy when you’re back from injury, especially an ACL. It’s not easy you come back and you get a good contract but the club gave me this opportunity. They are going to be in my heart forever but not just in my heart but my mind too.
“Especially here in the first seven or eight games, I didn’t play very well. But everyone still believed in me – what I could do for the team and myself. That’s one of the things I love because sometimes when you play s***, especially in Brazil. Doesn’t matter if you’re back from injury, you have 30-45 players coming for your spot. If you aren’t playing well in first five or 10 games, you will have more opportunities but it’s done in that moment.
“When I was playing not my best, Western still believed in me. That’s special.”
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A serious knee injury was not the not the only curveball to hit Penha abroad.
Less than a month after moving to South Korea, the Atletico Mineiro graduate received a devastating phone call from his wife Larissa in Brazil – she had cancer.
Daniel and Larissa spent seven months apart before the pair emotionally reunited in Melbourne last month.
He is back in his happy place and playing with a smile. But there was a dark period for Penha, who feels it contributed to his ACL injury.
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“I left Newcastle in a good way in my life,” Penha said. “Maybe the best form of my career. It’s hard because you need to show everything for everyone. You need to prove yourself for the people who paid for you. I didn’t leave Newcastle for the money, I left because I was looking after myself. If I played well in South Korea, I could move up (to another league). I was looking for my future.
“As soon as I arrived, we had bad news about my wife. I was there for maybe 20-25 days then I received a call from my wife. Oh my god, I need to go back to Brazil. Then we started thinking about, what do I need to do now? I stay here because she can’t come to South Korea. Do I stay here or go back to Brazil?
“If I’m back in Brazil, how can I help my wife? You start to think maybe it’s better to stay there. But then I said I need to stay here because I need to show my wife that I’m big and stronger for her. If she is looking to me and I’m back in Brazil and she starts thinking I’ve given up to be there in Brazil, she couldn’t give up as well.
“It’s hard to make a good decision because you never know. If I was there in South Korea and, sorry, if my wife is dead in Brazil, imagine my life after that. I would feel like it’s my fault. In football especially, you have to always make difficult decisions. You cannot stay in your bed and watch TV. You have to make a decision.
“To be honest, my apartment to the club was 10-15 minutes but I don’t remember how I drove to training. I just drove. I don’t remember the lights, the traffic. I was just thinking about my wife. What do I need to do to play better? Then that’s what I’m thinking why I got injured because my mind was in Brazil but my body was in South Korea. It was a hard moment.
“I’m here and so happy now, but I don’t know tomorrow. You have to enjoy the moment.”
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Penha, who feels at the peak of his powers, is enjoying the moment in Melbourne.
The 2022 A-Leagues All-Star doesn’t want to leave Western United or the city, though he has to support his wife having already realised a childhood dream.
“I want to stay in Australia. In my heart, I want to stay in Melbourne because I love everything here. You have everything,” he said. “I want to give my best for who made me happy. Since I arrived here, my first day in Australia, I was so happy. They make me happy. I want to give this back, that’s why I want to stay here.
“The career for a player is short. It’s not just about money. I came from a family that didn’t have money. We had a difficult life. My father used to work 15 hours a day. I would just see him before bed. We would talk for 10 minutes and then I’d sleep.
“When I went to South Korea, I changed my life a bit and I was able to help my family. I brought money back. My mother and father don’t work anymore. I built a house for myself and them in Brazil. They are retired and can enjoy life now. When I go back to Brazil, I’m always thinking I realised my dream because that was my dream.
“Now my family is me and my wife in this moment, so I need to look after my wife. Cancer treatment isn’t cheap. She needs to do the treatment. I’m working for her too because she cannot work. She needs to do treatment and it’s not easy. Every time she does the treatment, the first 15-20 days, she is tired.”
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