Brazilian striker Hulk was a guest on Romário's show for an extended conversation. During the interview, Hulk reflected on his experiences playing in Japan, Porto, Zenit, China, and Atlético Mineiro. This article is the first part of the exclusive interview.

Friend, it's great to have you on our show. First, I'd like to ask you—you left Brazil very young to play football in Japan. How did you adapt at that time?

For me, it was genuinely very worrying at the time. Because my career was just beginning, and I didn't even speak Portuguese fluently yet, and I was about to go to Japan. But once I got there, I had a very positive feeling. That country gave me everything I needed, and I adapted quickly. For me at that time, that experience was very good.

Is Japanese football more like European football or Brazilian football?

I think Brazilian football's technical level is now very high. It wasn't always that way; back then, we had more space to play with, so there were many transitions between attack and defense. When I first arrived in Japan, their matches also had many transitions. So compared to European football, there are still some differences.

Did your experience in Japan help you handle the pressure better when you played in Europe? Were you calmer and more composed when you actually came to Europe?

I think when we come to Europe, we tend to be calmer. I think that's different from our country; playing in Brazil involves greater pressure. Especially when you arrive in Europe while still very young—I often say that once you get there, you receive full support from the coaching staff, and they help you adapt. I joined Porto in 2008, and the coach at that time was Jesualdo Ferreira. He really helped me a lot and made many things much easier for me.

You won 11 titles in 5 years at Porto. Do you think that was the best period of your career?

I think even if it wasn't the best period, it was certainly one of the best. We won the Europa League and the Primeira Liga unbeaten. I was also called up to the Brazilian national team for the first time in 2009. So it was a very special time. I think that was probably one of the best periods in my career.

You must have worked with many Portuguese coaches. Nowadays, Portuguese coaches are really flooding into our football in large numbers, especially Brazilian football. And there's Mourinho, one of the most famous among them. Do you think Portuguese coaches have something different compared to our coaches?

I don't think so. I think each person has their own way of reading the game, and there are different coaching philosophies and schools. I think it's more about the period they're in.

There was a time when Brazilian coaches were very famous. Luxemburgo coached Real Madrid, and Scolari was also a highly respected coach; he coached Chelsea and went to many places around the world. When Argentina won the World Cup, many Argentine coaches also began to stand out.

And now, I think Portuguese coaches are really very prominent, especially in Brazilian football. I think this is related to their achievements. For example, Abel won important titles after coming here. And there's a coach now coaching Cruzeiro who previously coached Botafogo and won the Copa Libertadores; I can't remember his name right now.

Artur Jorge.

Jorge, that's right, Artur Jorge. So these achievements bring credibility to Portuguese coaches and also increase their value. I think now is the time when Portuguese coaches are highly valued in Brazilian football.

They're really very famous now.

Yes, very famous. Very famous, really very famous.

After Mourinho came to manage in England, did he ever think about bringing you over? Why didn't that ultimately happen?

I was at Porto for 4 years, and almost every transfer window there was a possibility of moving to England, but Porto always kept me. They didn't want to sell me—they just didn't want to sell. In the 2010/11 season, we won the Europa League, the Primeira Liga unbeaten, and almost everything. That year was truly amazing.

After that, Porto sold Falcao to Atlético Madrid, and then Man City made an offer for me. At that time, if they had sold me, the offer was €60 million. I only found out about this later.

But Porto said they wouldn't sell me. They wouldn't sell because they had just sold Falcao and didn't need extra money by selling another player.

The following year, I remember Villas-Boas went... was it from Chelsea to Tottenham, or to Chelsea?

Chelsea.

Yes, Chelsea. He wanted to bring in João Moutinho and James Rodríguez at that time, if I remember correctly.

No, it was João Moutinho and Álvaro Pereira.

Yes, I think so. Anyway, he ultimately wasn't able to sign them. Then the European transfer market closed. And at that time, the only player receiving offers from Russian football was me. The European transfer market had closed, but the Russian market still seemed to have about a week left.

I received an offer from Zenit. At that point, I seriously considered it, because I had already agreed to extend my contract with Porto, and I also knew the club had rejected an offer for me to go to England the year before.

So I thought: "Friend, I think it's time to move." I could still play in the Champions League and go to a completely different competition. Of course, I had still had the chance to play in England.

When you went to Russia, was that market attractive in every way at that time? Not just financially. At that time, Russian football was also starting to get more attention in Europe, right?

I think so. Because they invested a lot of money at that time. For example, they also signed Belgian player Axel Witsel, and many other famous players. Samuel Eto'o also came to Russia, so there were really many big players going there at that time.

At the same time, we could also participate in the Champions League, and Zenit was also a very strong team at that time. So these factors were very important, not just for financial reasons.

Did you experience racism in Russia? How did you handle that situation at the time?

It was very difficult, really very difficult. Because when I first arrived in Russia, some jealousy started to appear in the dressing room. The local Russian players had some resistance to our arrival because of my wages and transfer fee, and Witsel's as well.

So this started to create an uncomfortable atmosphere in the dressing room. I even offered to leave, but the president didn't allow me to.

And in some matches, opposing fans also targeted me and sang racist chants. That period was really difficult, and I had to endure a lot. After that, I prayed to God, hoping that He would give me enough wisdom to know how to handle this situation.

Then something happened that even surprised me a bit. Once when I went to take a corner kick, the fans started doing it again. But for some reason, I suddenly started blowing kisses to the stands and laughing up there.

Has this kind of thing happened anywhere else since then? Or, after experiencing those racist incidents in Russia, has it never happened again? In other words, did it mainly happen during that period in Russia?

That time in Russia was the last time. I did experience it once in Portugal, but I didn't even hear it at the time; I only found out later when watching a video. It seemed to happen even during a match in which I scored a goal. But after leaving Russia, it never happened again.

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