Weslley Patati joined Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer from Brazilian giants Santos and waited until the league victory away to Bnei Sakhnin in November to score his first goal in Yellow and Blue. Since then, the 21-year-old winger scored three more goals in all competitions including one in the Europa League victory over Besiktas. Against Maccabi Petah Tikva at Bloomfield, Patati, scored directly from a corner on the way to a dramatic three-goal comeback. “I am very happy to help the team as I work very hard every day and at every given opportunity to improve – I am happy it pays off” Patati said after the match. “The change in form began when I began feeling more and more at home. I settled in, began to understand the coach better and what is required of me, to understand my teammates, what is said in training, what I am told on the pitch. I am very happy and feel an integral part of the team which is the change that gradually took place and helped me improve.”
On the decision to sign for Maccabi, Patati, revealed: “I spoke at length with my agent, we were thinking where to go and decided that Maccabi Tel Aviv would be a good place to begin my journey in Europe. The weather, the style of football and the fact there are many Brazilians living in the country – so we felt that this is a good place to enter European football and decided in the summer that Maccabi will be our target.”
Patati who was regarded in his country as a major future prospect, spoke of his past in Brazil: “I experienced some very challenging spells during my career. I suffered from a very difficult injury which bothered me mentally and when I recovered, I suffered another injury on my first match back. It dragged me into a very tough and sad spell which I found difficult to get out of. Now I am in a completely different place, I left the past in the past and only looking forward.”
On his impression of Israel so far, Patati said: “I am very happy here as the climate is like the climate back home and reminds me of the city I grew up at (Sao Paolo) with the beaches, the restaurants, the atmosphere, the people. I really like Tel Aviv, the sunshine and thank god for the opportunity I was given to be here. In every day that goes by I feel more and more connected and hope this will continue this way.”
Patati, whose English improved dramatically thanks to lessons he has at the club on an almost daily basis, summed up: “Na’ama (Cohen) is the best English teacher in Israel, and I am so happy to have met her. She is doing everything to help me, as I learn more and more in every lesson. I take lessons at every opportunity I and I am grateful for her and everyone else at the club for their generosity in making life easier for me.”
