Philippe Coutinho

ere he became a key player. He made his debut for Inter Milan in 2010, and was later loaned to La Liga club Espanyol in 2012. In January 2013, Coutinho joined Premier League club Liverpool. He flourished at Liverpool, being named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2015, and being named Liverpool's fans' and players' player of the year in 2015 and 2016. In January 2018, Coutinho signed for Barcelona and won two La Liga titles with the club. He was loaned to German club Bayern Munich for the 2019–20 season, being part of the team that won a treble of Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League. He went on loan to Aston Villa in January 2022 before signing permanently for them in the summer.

Coutinho made his senior international debut for Brazil in 2010. He was part of the squad at the 2015 Copa América and the Copa América Centenario in 2016, and made his FIFA World Cup debut at the 2018 World Cup, in which he scored two goals. He was also a member of the Brazil team that won the 2019 Copa América on home soil.

The third and youngest son of Esmeralda Coutinho and architect José Carlos Correia, Coutinho was born on 12 June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. He was raised in Rio's northern Rocha district between an old shanty town and industrial warehouses.

As a child he was very shy and would prefer to be alone; he started playing football after watching his elder brothers Cristiano and Leandro play with their friends at a local concrete football pitch. He began playing futsal, and he said it helped him develop his skills as a footballer. Coutinho thrived in the street environment, developing skill and improvisation. After Coutinho joined a local football academy on the insistence of his friend's grandmother, his father was approached at a tournament by youth coaches at Vasco da Gama, where Coutinho attended a trial and joined their youth system.

Having made youth appearances for Brazil from the under-14 team upwards, Coutinho became a key player in the Brazil squad that won the 2009 South American U-17 Championship, scoring three goals.

The 18-year-old made his debut for the Brazil national team on 7 October 2010, starting in a friendly match against Iran. He was omitted from the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil by manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. On 19 August 2014, Coutinho was called up to the national squad by new Brazil manager Dunga for the friendly matches against Colombia and Ecuador in September, and played the final 25 minutes of the match against Ecuador. On 29 March 2015, he was selected to start in Brazil's 1–0 friendly victory over Chile in London. Coutinho was included in Brazil's squad for the 2015 Copa América, and he scored his first international goal on 7 June during a 2–0 friendly win over Mexico at Allianz Parque.

In May 2016, Coutinho was included in Brazil's squad for the Copa América Centenario in the United States. On 8 June, in the second group match at the Camping World Stadium, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–1 win against Haiti. Brazil did not advance past the group stage after losing 1–0 to Peru. On 28 March 2017, Coutinho scored in a 3–0 win against Paraguay that ensured Brazil qualified for the 2018 World Cup.

Coutinho was named in the Brazil squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 17 June 2018, he scored on his World Cup debut with a right-footed curling shot from outside the penalty area into the corner of the goal in Brazil's 1–1 draw with Switzerland in the group stage. In the following match against Costa Rica on 22 June, he scored the opening goal in injury time of the second half and was named man of the match as Brazil won 2–0. On 6 July, he assisted Renato Augusto's goal in a 2–1 quarter-final defeat to Belgium as Brazil were eliminated from the World Cup.

In May 2019, Coutinho was included in Brazil's squad for the 2019 Copa América on home soil. He earned his 50th cap for Brazil in the tournament's opening match on 14 June, and scored twice in a 3–0 win over Bolivia. He played in Brazil's 3–1 win over Peru in the final on 7 July at the Maracanã Stadium, helping the national team to their first major trophy in 12 years.

Coutinho missed the 2021 Copa América in Brazil due to a knee injury. After going through 2021 without making an international appearance, Coutinho returned to the national team's line-up for 2022 World Cup qualifiers in early 2022, scoring against Paraguay and Chile. On 6 November, however, it was announced that he had suffered a muscular injury that would rule him out of the tournament.

When Coutinho moved to Italy at age 18 to join Inter Milan, he was joined there by his parents and his girlfriend Ainê, whom he had first met at a friend's party. On moving to Espanyol, his parents returned to Brazil. He married Ainê in 2012 in Brazil. The couple have two daughters and one son. Coutinho has tattoos down his arms which form tributes to his family and his wife. He is a Christian.

During the early morning hours of 20 February 2018, Coutinho found his Barcelona home burgled. He had been out eating dinner with his family, and he was having construction work done on his house, which made it easier for burglars to break in.

In August 2018, Coutinho gained a Portuguese passport through his wife, making him no longer a non-EU player.