Philippe Coutinho made his first appearance for Bayern Munich during their 3-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, coming on as a second-half substitute together with fellow new signee Ivan Perisic. The Brazilian completed his loan move to Bayern from Barcelona just over a week ago and has already started to fit in with the rest of squad, Niko Kovac, and the coaching staff.
Family is such an important part of Coutinho’s life that a majority of his family and friends have joined him in Munich to support him this season (per Bild). His wife, Ainê and his two brothers, Leonardo and Cristiano, were present at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen to witness his debut for Bayern. His parents, Jose Carlos and Dona Esmerelda moved with him to Milan, Italy, in 2008 when he joined Inter Milan from Vasco de Gama in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to help make adapting to life in Europe easier on him.
Coutinho’s father, in particular, who was an architect in Brazil, made a big sacrifice in to help Philippe in Italy. Coutinho said,
My father had to quit his job, which was painful, because he loves to be occupied. My parents ultimately moved back to Brazil.
With such a demanding career as a high profile footballer in Europe, Coutinho values family over everything else and shares all his success with them:
My family is everything for me! I share everything with my family. My luck and success is theirs.
Coutinho has been with his wife, Ainê, since 2007. She had moved from Brazil to Italy to be with him, leaving everything behind. They were married in 2012 and have two daughters named Maria (3 years) and Esmerelda (6 months). Ainê has always been the the first person Philippe talks to when something goes wrong or when he is going through a difficult period. Coutinho even has a goal celebration dedicated to her every time he scores where he blows her a kiss.
Coutinho’s strong family values pair perfectly with Bayern’s credo Mia San Mia. The club-first mentality that’s been ingrained at Bayern is defined by family-like values that should appeal to people like Coutinho. His love and passion for those close to him will hopefully translate into chemistry with his teammates both on and off the pitch at Bayern, but there’s no doubting the fact that Coutinho is a man who has a good head on his shoulders and possesses the right values.