FROM THE RIVALRY OF THE FLA-FLU, THE FORCE WAS BORN

THE FLA-FLU SPREAD THE RED-BLACK PASSION, BECOMING THE MOST POWERFUL EVENT IN BRAZILIAN SPORT. THEN, THE “CLASSIC OF THE MILLIONS”, ALSO MADE TRADITIONAL BY FLAMENGO AND VASCO, CAME TO FACE WITH THE MOST NUMEROUS FANS IN BRAZIL. THE NEW RIVALRY THAT WOULD MAKE THE MAJESTY OF THE MARACANÃ SMALL, IN THE SAME WAY AS THE FLA X FLU, WOULD EVEN BE ONE OF THE REASONS FOR ENCOURAGING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LARGEST STADIUM IN THE WORLD. IN GÁVEA, SÃO JANUÁRIO, LARANJEIRAS OR ESTÁDIO MÁRIO FILHO, THE “CLASSIC OF THE MILLIONS” WOULD KILL MANY PEOPLE FROM THE HEART.

IN FACT, VASCO DA GAMA, WHO HAD BEEN BORN PORTUGUESE AND HAD BECOME CARIOCA OVER THE YEARS, WAS VERY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POPULARIZATION OF FOOTBALL. FLAMENGO, WHO HAD BEEN BORN BRAZILIAN AND IN THE MIDST OF THE PEOPLE, PUT THEIR CLAW ON THE FIELDS AND FACED THE OPPONENT, WHO THE FANS THEMSELVES CLASSIFIED AS “A POWER”. WHEN THAT GOAL BY VALIDO BROUGHT THE FIRST RED-BLACK CHAMPIONSHIP, THE STRENGTH OF FLAMENGO X VASCO GAINED NEW TONES OF RIVALRY AND THE FANS OF A TEAM THAT HAD LEFT INFERIOR FOR THE TITLE ALREADY APPEARED AS PLAYER NUMBER TWELVE.

WITHOUT EVER LOSING ITS LEGEND, WITH THE ADDITION OF THE CLASSIC OF THE MILLIONS, THE MOST RECENT TIMES HAVE CREATED A NEW MAGIC FOR FLAMENGO X BOTAFOGO. IT WAS A NEW REASON FOR THE DISPUTE BETWEEN FANS, BUT ALSO THE PROOF THAT, WHATEVER THE OPPONENT, FLAMENGO WAS A CONSTANT, THE MAINSPRING OF RIO DE JANEIRO FOOTBALL.

PAGE 12 PHOTO OF THE TRAM

RIO DE JANEIRO’S FOOTBALL OWES FLAMENGO THE BEST OF ITS PARTY. FROM ROWING TO LAND SPORTS, THE RUBRO-NEGRO FANS WERE THE FIRST TO APPEAR ON THE STREETS WITH THEIR BATUCADAS AND THE GAMES VERY MUCH TO THE CARIOCA GAME, WHICH GREATLY HELPED TO WIN THE POPULAR AFFECTION FOR BORGERTH’S CLUB. ON THE OLD FOOTBALL FIELDS OR IN TODAY’S MARACANÃ, FLAMENGO SHOWS ITS DIFFERENCE WITH THE WARMTH AND EXCITEMENT OF THE HUGE CROWD THAT ACCOMPANIES IT.

PAGES 12 AND 13 – PHOTOS GOALKEEPER AGAINST STRIKER – GRANDSTAND – GRANDSTAND WITH THE FLAG OF THE FLA STATUE ON TOP, OUTSIDE

WHERE THE REPUBLIC WAS MADE PEACE AND LOVE

IT TELLS THE STORY THAT THE FLAMENGO ARTIST GENTIL MONTERIO FOUNDED THE “PEACE AND LOVE REPUBLIC” AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF NUMBER 22, PRAIA DO FLAMENGO. IN THE SAME WAY AS THE STUDENTS, THE ATHLETES OF THE CLUB MADE THEIR “REPUBLIC”. THE INHABITANTS OF THIS “REPUBLIC” WERE PEACEFUL AND FESTIVE, BUT ABLE TO STAND UP TO LIGHT AND FORCE HER TO INSTALL A TRAM STOP AT THE CLUB’S DOOR, AFTER MUCH PAINTING-AND-ERASING OF THE WHITE STOP BANNER ON THE POLE OF DISCORD.

THE MEN OF “PEACE AND LOVE” WERE NOISY IN THE FIRST ALMOST CARNIVALESQUE PARADES THAT THE SPORT MOTIVATED IN THE STREETS OF THE CITY. WHEN THE BLOCO EMERGED IN THE MORNINGS OF ROWING OR IN THE AFTERNOONS OF FOOTBALL, WITH ITS NOISE AND ITS DRUMMING, THE CARIOCA ALREADY “BY EAR” KNEW FROM A DISTANCE THAT “HERE COME THE PEOPLE OF FLAMENGO”.

IN THE CITY, IN THE VICINITY OF RUA SÃO JOSÉ, THE OLD CAFÉ SÃO JOSÉ, LARGO DO MACHADO, THE TRADITIONAL “LAMAS” AND OTHER POINTS OF RIO DE JANEIRO, RED-BLACK STRONGHOLDS WERE FORMED. PLAYERS, FANS AND MANAGERS MET DAILY UNDER THE PRETEXT OF A CHICKEN SOUP TO TALK ABOUT FLAMENGO. DELIBERATIONS WERE MADE, STRATEGIC PLANS WERE MADE FOR THE PLACEMENT OF THE FANS ON THE FIELD OF THE NEXT GAME. WHILE FLUMINENSE GATHERED ITS FANS WITH SOME SOLEMNITY IN PLACES OF MORE REFINEMENT, AND THE VASCO DOMINATED THE TRADITIONAL SPOTS SUCH AS THE “CAPELA”, IN LAPA, OR THE BREWERIES OF PRAÇA ONZE, THE CAFÉ RIO BRANCO WAS IN CHARGE OF RESPONDING TO ANY CONTROVERSY, OF CREATING THE SAYINGS, SUCH AS THE “BASQUE ENTRY” FOR ITS OPPONENTS. IT WAS FLAMENGO TALKING AND FORCING PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT HIM.

WHAT REASONS MADE IT SO EASY TO LOVE HIM?

BIG PHOTO OF THE CROWD AND THE RED-BLACK FLAGS

FINDING IT TODAY AS THE “MOST BELOVED CLUB”, MANY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT FLAMENGO’S SPELL IS, WHAT REASONS MADE IT SO EASY TO LOVE HIM. IT IS SAID, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT ARI BARROSO WAS TRICOLOR (FLUMINENSE), BEFORE BEING RED-BLACK AND THAT HE HAD SUDDENLY CHANGED WHEN HE NOTICED THAT HIS FORMER PEERS THOUGHT A DEFEAT WAS NORMAL, WITHOUT CEASING TO HOLD THE PARTY SCHEDULED FOR THE NIGHT OF THE GAME. IN LOVE, JOY HAS THE SAME PLACE AS SADNESS. OLD ARI WANTED THE JOY TO BE EXPANDED, THE SADNESS TO BE SINCERE. AND FLAMENGO, THROUGH LOVE, HAD DISCOVERED THE FORMULA FOR JOY AND EVEN TAKEN IT TO THE STREET. AND FLAMENGO WAS SAD ON THE OCCASIONS WHEN THEY COULDN’T TURN UNFAVORABLE SITUATIONS OR IMMINENT DEFEATS INTO RESOUNDING VICTORIES.

            WHEN FLAMENGO OFFICIALLY DEBUTED IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1912. FOR THE FIRST TIME, HE BROUGHT TO THE STADIUMS THE JOYFUL SPIRIT OF A RIVALRY, WHICH TIME WOULD TURN INTO THE MAIN FACTOR OF POPULAR CONTAGION FOR FOOTBALL. IF PREVIOUSLY THE “MEETINGS” WERE ALMOST A SOCIAL EVENT, THE FACT THAT THE LAND SPORT WAS BORN IN THE OLD FLAMENGO REGATTA GROUP, BY THE ENTRY OF ALMOST THE ENTIRE FIRST TEAM OF FLUMINENSE, CHAMPION OF 1911, ALSO GAVE RISE TO THE HEAT THAT WOULD COVER THE FLA X FLU OF ALL TIMES.

            THE DESIRE FOR VICTORY WOULD OVERCOME THE OLD SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. THE VERY EXISTENCE OF A FLA X FLU, INSTEAD OF A FLAMENGO X FLUMINENSE, WOULD BRING THE PUBLIC’S INTIMACY WITH THEIR PASSIONS. THE CROWD LEFT THE PASSIVITY OF THE SPECTATOR IN EXCHANGE FOR PARTICIPATION, FOR ENCOURAGEMENT. THE JUDGES’ DECISIONS WERE NO LONGER SUPREME, AT LEAST THEY WOULD PASS THE SCRUTINY OF CRITICISM AND CONDEMNATION. WHEN TODAY IT IS SAID THAT THE CAMPEONATO CARIOCA IS A WAR, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “ENEMY” HAS BECOME FUNDAMENTAL IN VALUING THE ACHIEVEMENTS.

PAGE 15 – 2 PHOTOS – PELÉ X DEFESNSOR DO FLA AND VOLLEYBALL PLAYER FROM FLA CUTTING IN VOLLEYBALL

UNDERNEATH THE PHOTO OF VOLLEYBALL

IN A SHORT TIME, FLAMENGO HAD GROWN INTO SPORTS, EXPANDING ITS ACTIVITIES TO ATHLETICS, SWIMMING, BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND OTHER MODALITIES, MARKING ITS PRESENCE IN ALL OF THEM.

ON PAGE 16 – TOP – PHOTO SMALL STATUE WITH FLAMENGO FLAG

A LEGEND IS MADE WITH STRUGGLE

UNDER THE TITLE. BIG PHOTO OF THE CROWD

FLAMENGO WAS LIKE THAT, SPONTANEOUS AND PERFECTLY IDENTIFIABLE WITH THE BEST BRAZILIAN SPIRIT, WHICH THE CARIOCA CONSECRATED. HENCE ITS FAME AND ITS LEGEND. IT BECAME EASY TO WATCH EACH SUNDAY’S SPECTACLE. THE POOR YOUNG MAN FROM THE SUBURBS, WEARING AN UNBUTTONED SHIRT AND SHORTS, GRABS HIS FLAG LIKE A COMBAT BANNER AND SETS OUT IN SEARCH OF THE TRAIN THAT WILL JOIN HIM WITH THOUSANDS AND DROP HIM OFF AT THE MARACANÃ ALREADY INTEGRATED WITH THE PASSIONATE CROWD. THIS WILL NOT PREVENT MARSHAL EURICO GASPAR DUTRA FROM MAKING A POINT OF EXPRESSING HIS LOVE FOR THE RUBRO-NEGRO, AS HE DID WHEN HE DECISIVELY CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CLUB’S NEW HEADQUARTERS, ON AVENIDA RUI BARBOSA.

IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT WAS CHOSEN BY PRESIDENT EMÍLIO GARRASTAZU MÉDICI, FLAMENGO IS THE CLUB OF MASSA PERFECTLY ENMESHED AND OBEDIENT TO THE MOTTO SUNG IN ONE OF ITS ANTHEMS: “FLAMENGO, YOUR GLORY IS TO FIGHT!”. AND, IN EVERY FAN OF THE CLUB, WHO HAS TRANSPIRED FROM A MODEST TO ALL THE STREETS OF BRAZIL, THERE IS ONE TRUTH: MILLIONS OF TIMES REPEATED IN THE OTHER ANTHEM THAT SAYS: “ONCE FLAMENGO, ALWAYS FLAMENGO!”

PAGE 17 – PHOTO OF THE COMMEMORATION – ABOVE THE PHOTO:

FROM REGATTAS TO FOOTBALL, FLAMENGO CONQUERS RIO

THE CLAW HAS NEVER CHANGED COLOR: IT’S RED-BLACK. WHEN BIGUÁ, IN HIS GOOD TIMES, RAN TO KISS PERÁCIO, IN GRATITUDE FOR A GOAL HE HAD WON, THE FLAME AND ARDOR OF ALL THE FANS WERE PRESENT ON THE PITCH, TRANSPORTED FROM SOUL TO SOUL, TO THE HEARTS OF THE PLAYERS. SINCE ITS FOUNDATION, FLAMENGO HAS BEEN TENACITY; WATCH:

P.S. Translated from Portuguese o the 70’s. It was beautiful!

P.S. 2 – Happy birthday Uncle Raphael, one if the biggest Flamengo’s supporter.

P.S. 3 – Happy Birthday Cousin Dudu! Have a nice day!

By Jucele

Julio Leal

Football Coach Champion of the World Under 20 in Australia, 1993

Youth Coach of Flamengo in the Golden Era (1976 to 1982) and Professional (2005)

YouTube: @julioleal5218