The 27-year-old striker - who was born in Portugal and plays for the Guinea-Bissau national side - signed for the Toffees in August 2023 and he thought the game against their regional rivals was "just" another game, despite people at the club telling him otherwise, but once he hit the opening goal in the 2-2 home draw in February, he "fully understood".

He told The Athletic: “To tell you the truth. I had thought the derby was just (another) game. But within the club, people like Seamus (Coleman) and Tony, the kit man, were saying, ‘You guys need to beat them’.

“Playing in that game, I fully understood this. I was like, ‘Wow, this is really good’; the tackles, they go strong, we go strong, they give it to me and I give it to them. I love this — the battle. Now the derby is in my blood. I don’t want to lose any game, but that game — I really don’t want to lose it.”

Beto cited Samuel Eto'o as his childhood "idol" and he had the Barcelona legend on the back of his shirt without even knowing who he was because he had little access to the internet or satellite TV.

He said: “One day, we were choosing the number of the jersey on my shirt and I didn’t have any role model in football to refer to.

“They said, ‘Oh, you’re a striker, you need to wear the No 9 like Samuel Eto’o’. I said, ‘I don’t know (who) Eto’o (is), but, OK, I can be No 9’.”

But in the summer of 2009, Beto got to see Eto'o in action in the Champions League final against Manchester United.

He recalled: “My friend’s family lived on the ground floor of my building and had television access. I was by the window outside watching the game. I saw the goal and Eto’o’s celebration and thought, ‘This is the guy they all told me about’. So I said, ‘OK, let me follow this guy’. He became my idol.”