The former Gremio and Internacional midfielder, is loving the challenge of making his true passion, beach soccer, bigger in Estonia
Many things grab your attention when watching Nomme Kalju Team. One thing is how young the team is, and how they give their everything in every single piece of play. Another one is their coach, someone who does not look Estonian at all.
His name is Guetulio Fredo, better known in his country as Guettu, a football wandered, with a wide range of professional experience, who is considered one of those miracle men in National top-flight football.
After more than 25 years away, and over a decade in Estonia, he feels that Estonia a part of his own being, despite the fact that his origins are in Porto Alegre.
“I feel at home when I am in Estonia. I love it there, the people, the country,… I even feel homesick when I am away!” And what about the cold, you might wonder… It is no problem for him, either. After 15 years living at those latitudes, he is more than used to it. “Once you spend a year here, cold does not affect you any more! You get used to it! Actually, I am from Porto Alegre, and when winter comes, it is also pretty cold there!”
Despite having lived in Estonia for a decade, his passport is Finnish after living there for many years, as are those of his son, as well as daughter, who is the Finnish YouTuber, Patu Emilia. Both came along to enjoy the experience here in Nazaré.
Guetulio Fredo began his career in Gremio, the club in which he came through all the youth categories, and, at 21, he signed for Internacional, where he shared a dressing room with players such as Falcao. A serious knee injury took him out of top-flight football, and he started combining player and coach roles, with his first experience in Thailand. He kept on with his career, and professionally played in Thailand, Uruguay, Germany or Portugal, before ending his playing career at the Finnish First Division.
After five years in Finland, he started playing beach soccer in Estonia at the weekends. He took the ferry and went there every Saturday, to enjoy beach soccer with some Brazilian friends. “I might be a professional of football, and football is what gives me a living, but my true passion is beach soccer”
Once there, the president of the Nomme Kalju FC (who were in the second division in that time and in danger of relegation) approached Gueto and offered him the coaching position. He accepted, and the position is still his ten years later.
The team not only avoided relegation, but eventually got promoted to the top division in the country and won the league for the first time in their history. But Gueto got even further than that, helping Nomme Kalju seal qualification to the Europa League, a major accomplishment for Estonian Football.
Despite his occupation as the technical director in Nomme Kalju, he has never forgotten about beach soccer, and takes time out of whenever he can to keep in the loop. Since he also took charge of both the men and women beach soccer teams of the Tallin-based Club Nomme Kalju, he has been working hard to help the modality grow and grow in the country, highlighting the importance of combining thorough training programs (as much as the weather allows) with international experience such as the one they have just experienced.
He took part in the Euro Winner Cup for the first time two years ago, in 2016. And immediately fell in love with everything that surrounds it. “When you play Euro Winners Cup, when you are a part of it, you never forget it. Some of the girls have even told me ‘I want to stay here! I do not want to go back to Estonia!’. They are already looking forward to coming back next year!”
The results may not have gone their way, but the lessons have been learnt, he assures. And this, for a team with an average age of 19,5 years, is the most important thing.
