Tamires had something to get off her chest when she sat down to talk to FIFA, so here she is in first person:
I need to make one thing clear: there are many sides to me. I love being a mum and it’s a wonderful thing, but there’s much more to me than “just” being a mother or “just” being a player. There’s a lot to it, take it from me. It’s hard work, it takes discipline and it involves making some difficult choices. But, having said all that, becoming a mother is one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened to me.
I’ve always known that the best thing I can teach my son, Bernardo, is to lead by example every day. I want him to see that his mum never gave up on her dream of playing football, even when there were a few people out there who said she should.
I began my professional playing career in 2004 and I got pregnant in 2009, at the age of 21. I’d always dreamed of being a mother, but it was an unplanned pregnancy. It was a big blow, and I’ve told my son that. Before I got pregnant, all I thought about was playing football, and then, suddenly, everything changed. Some people said to me that it was all over, that I’d taken leave of my senses and that it would be impossible for me to play again.
Life has taught me that being a mother and a player isn’t easy, but it’s impossible to do it all by yourself. You need the help of your family, friends and the club.
Fortunately, I had that support network at home, so I was able to get things done on time. I had my maternity leave and returned to football in my own time, without losing sight of who I was. I try to teach Bernardo that you can be happy without it coming at the expense of others and without forgetting who you are. He’s 16 now and he’s such a lovely boy that I’ve even been thinking of working with teenagers when I stop playing.
Speaking of which, that decision isn’t far away, in all honesty. I think 2028 might be the year I call it quits. But right now, at the age of 38, I’ve still got that hunger to play at the highest level, to help Corinthians and the Seleção. I still want more; my dream is to be at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 and I’m working towards that.
And I love being known as Mãe da Fiel (Mother of the Corinthians Faithful). It’s a nickname I’m very proud of. What bothered me for a while was seeing that this was the only story being told about me.
From the moment Bernardo was born through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, almost every question I was asked was about motherhood, what it was like to be a player and a mother, who my son lived with and so on.
To begin with, I honestly thought it was fine. When I got pregnant, I didn’t have any role models. I didn’t see any other players going through that and then returning to play at the highest level after giving birth. So, I wanted to talk about it to open things up for others and help create a pathway.
As time went by, though, people just seemed to forget about Tamires the player, who trains hard and keeps on going. I’m older now and I can see that was just a reaction to the lack of a role model at the time. I was, in the eyes of many, the only player/mother who could talk about it. Talking about motherhood was never the problem, though. The problem was talking about it and nothing else.
That’s why I decided in 2019 to remind people of Tamires the player. I think I achieved that in some style, with my nutmeg against Australia catching the eye. After that World Cup, which did so much for women’s football, perceptions of me changed and attention turned back to my game.
Things have improved in many ways, including in terms of women’s health, with research into physiology and how a female athlete’s body changes after she becomes a mother and returns to sport. We still have a long way to go, but the situation was much worse when I was expecting 16 years ago.
But someone has to suffer if things are going to change, don’t they? If it had to be anyone, I’m glad it was me, because I’m a glass-half-full kind of person. I don’t like to go overboard about it, but being a mother is a blessing. I tell younger players that there’s time for everything, including enjoying motherhood, but that you need to have the support of the club and your family and lots of discipline.
I’ve never been the most talented of players or the strongest, but I’ve always been consistent, disciplined and hard-working. It was being consistent that got me this far, even though I didn’t have all the answers. Not even mothers know everything.
My son is experiencing everything for the first time and so am I. When I look back, I have a lot of affection for that young girl who fought hard to be happy. I’m very proud of all the different sides there are to me. They all make Tamires who she is, and she just happens to be a player and a mother.
The most important thing is that my son has seen that I’ve fought for my dreams. He has his own personal goals and he’s as stubborn as me when it comes to sticking to them. If my journey to this point teaches him to fight to make his dreams come true, in the same way I fought to play football and to be a mother, then he’ll end up smiling a lot more than he cries.
As for me, I hope to keep on smiling in football for a while longer yet.
With love,
Tamires
