FC Barcelona forward Kerolin is crediting her mother, Tatiane, with saving her career and carrying their family through severe financial hardship, including a brutal two-year doping suspension that threatened to derail her future in professional football.
Poverty and Hunger on a Brazilian Farm
Long before signing with Barcelona and capturing an Olympic silver medal with the Brazil national team, Kerolin faced staggering adversity. After moving from Bauru in southeastern Brazil, the family could no longer afford rent and was forced to relocate to a farm.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought total collapse. Professional football ground to a halt, Tatiane lost her job, and the household plunged into deep poverty. Kerolin recalled that for multiple days during that dark stretch, their refrigerator and pantry were entirely empty, with cornmeal serving as their only sustenance.
Refusing to Break Under Pressure
Through it all, Tatiane provided the emotional anchor that kept the household together. Kerolin noted that her mother displayed extraordinary composure during moments when anyone else would have completely lost control.
“When my father was not present, you were the example that guided my conduct and taught me how I should behave,” Kerolin wrote in a deeply personal account published by The Players’ Tribune.
The Isolation of a Two-Year Ban
The hunger and housing instability were not the only hurdles. Kerolin’s trajectory took a devastating hit when she failed an anti-doping test, resulting in a two-year suspension from the sport.
Cut off from competitive play, stripped of income, and facing total uncertainty about whether she would ever step onto a pitch again, she relied on raw grit. She kept training independently, channeling the exact resilience her mother had modeled on the farm.
Turning Hardship Into Trophies
That relentless discipline paved the way for her eventual return to the professional ranks, leading directly to domestic titles and elite international success.
“All that I have achieved… has been possible because I have remained faithful to my only conviction: life is made to dream,” she wrote.
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