STORIES, HISTORY, FACTS, CASES AND “CAUSOS”

23 – SUCKING ICE WITH PELÉ

WHEN WE TOOK OVER THE BRAZILIAN UNDER-17 TEAM IN 1991, WE HAD LITTLE TIME TO PREPARE THE TEAM FOR THE SOUTH AMERICAN THAT QUALIFIED FOR THE WORLD CUP IN TERMAS DE MONTECATINI, ITALY, IN THE SAME YEAR, FOR PLAYERS BORN AFTER AUGUST 1, 1974.

THERE WAS A PRE-SELECTION MADE BY MR. ANTONINHO, A SPECIALIST, BASED ON A FEW WANDERINGS AROUND BRAZIL. IN THE SAME MONTH THAT WE TOOK OVER, WE DID THE FIRST TRAINING PERIOD AND WE DIDN’T LIKE THE LEVEL PRESENTED. LUCKILY THERE WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR THE YOUTH CUP OF RIO DE JANEIRO, FOR PLAYERS BORN FROM 1973 ONWARDS, WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF 64 TEAMS DIVIDED INTO 16 VENUES IN THE STATE WITH GROUPS OF 4 (FOUR), FROM WHERE THE FIRST 2 (TWO) LEFT FOR THE KNOCKOUT STAGE, AND GO ON TO THE FINAL.

WE RECOMMENDED THAT THE ENTIRE COACHING STAFF LOOK AT THE BRACKETS CONSIDERED MOST IMPORTANT, AS IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO WATCH ALL THE GROUPS, AND THEN THE UNSEEN CLUBS CLASSIFIED IN EACH PHASE. IN THE END, WE MET AND MADE A CALL FOR THOSE WHO HAD THE BEST RECOMMENDATIONS AND WERE WITHIN THE DEFINED AGE. FOR EXAMPLE: JARDEL, WHO PLAYED FOR FERROVIÁRIO DO CEARÁ, WAS OBSERVED BY PROF. JOÃO CARLOS LOPES, AND INDICATED AS OF A GOOD LEVEL, ALMOST ALONE HE HAD GIVEN TREMENDOUS WORK TO THE TEAM OF C. DE REGATAS DO FLAMENGO, BUT HIS TEAM DID NOT ADVANCE AND WAS BORN IN 1973. HE WAS LATER CALLED UP TO THE 1993 YOUTH TEAM, WHEN HE WAS ALREADY PLAYING FOR VASCO DA GAMA.

SOME CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE INITIAL CALL-UP, FEW TRAINING STAGES AND WE ACHIEVED THE FEAT OF QUALIFYING IN FIRST PLACE IN PARAGUAY FOR THE WORLD CUP IN ITALY.

ON ARRIVING THERE, WE LEARNED OF THE PRESENCE OF THE KING OF FOOTBALL, EDSON ARANTES DO NASCIMENTO, PELÉ, WHO WAS THE POSTER BOY FOR MASTERCARD. WE CONTACTED ONE OF HIS ADVISORS, WHO WE KNEW, A NEIGHBOR IN IPANEMA, WALTER MIRAGLIA’S SON, AND WE AGREED ON THE KING’S TRIP TO GIVE A BRIEF LECTURE TO OUR YOUNG PLAYERS, UNDER 17, THAT IS: 16- AND 15-YEARS OLD. THE CONDITION IMPOSED WAS THAT WE DID NOT DISCLOSE THEIR PRESENCE IN THE SMALL SPA TOWN, WITH A POPULATION OF ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO WENT THERE FOR TREATMENTS WITH MEDICINAL WATERS. SO, WE DID, WE DIDN’T EVEN TALK TO THE PLAYERS.

LECTURE AT 8 A.M. AFTER BREAKFAST, BEFORE THE START OF THE COMPETITION, CHAIRS IN A CIRCLE ARRANGED, PLAYERS ARRANGED, AN EMPTY SEAT. SINCE 5 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING, A GROUP HAD ALREADY FORMED IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL, ALMOST SURROUNDING THE ENTIRE BLOCK, VERY OLD PEOPLE AND SOME YOUNG PEOPLE TOO, EUPHORIC, EAGER TO SEE KING, WHO ARRIVED IN HIS LIMOUSINE, STOPPED IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL, ATTENDED TO EVERYONE SYMPATHETICALLY AND POLITELY, AS IF EACH ONE HAD KNOWN EACH ONE FOR A LONG TIME. HIS AURA OF LOVE (THE GREATEST CHARISMA I SAW, ALONG WITH POPE JOHN PAUL II) AND HIS FAME PRECEDED HIM.

EVERYONE IN THE HOTEL, LINED UP, HE GREETED, THE PERPLEXED YOUNG PEOPLE HE GREETED, HE SAT IN THE COMMON CHAIR THAT TOOK ON THE AIR OF A THRONE. ON HIS LEFT SIDE WAS YAN, TOO YOUNG EVEN FOR THE COMPETITION, BUT A GOOD AND TALENTED PLAYER, FROM VASCO DA GAMA. HE PUT HIS LEFT HAND ON YAN’S LEG TO SHOW SIMPLICITY; I HAD THE IMPRESSION OF SEEING YAN’S RIGHT LEG TREMBLE WITH EMOTION.

 HE TOLD ABOUT HIS LIFE, INCLUDING SPORTS, HE RECALLED THAT AT THE AGE OF SOME OF THEM HE HAD BEEN WORLD CHAMPION IN THE MAIN CATEGORY, IN 58, IN SWEDEN, THE TEACHINGS THAT LIFE BROUGHT, WHAT HE LEARNED, THAT FOOTBALL WAS NOT JUST TECHNIQUE AND TACTICS, THAT THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE STRENGTH OF THE GROUP WERE FUNDAMENTAL.

BY THEN, HE ASKED WHO WAS THE STRONGEST IN THE GROUP, EVERYONE POINTED TO ARGEL, INTERNACIONAL’S DEFENDER. HE ASKED FOR A TELEPHONE DIRECTORY, WHICH HE SOON PROVIDED, WHICH HE GAVE TO THE YOUNG AND STRONG PLAYER, ASKING HIM TO TEAR IT IN HALF, MAKING THE ENERGETIC MOVEMENT WITH HIS HANDS. ARGEL TOOK THE WAD WITH NUMBERS, ADJUSTED IT AND TRIED THE FIRST TIME, NOTHING… THE SECOND, NOTHING, THE FRONT AND REAR COVERS DIDN’T EVEN FEEL IT. VERY BRAVE, HE WAS GOING TO TRY OTHER TIMES, A GOOD GAUCHO, A WARRIOR, LIKE THE ONE WHO, CUDDLING IN A RIVER, WENT UP ONE LAST TIME AND TOLD RIVER TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE HE WAS GOING TO SWALLOW IT ALL (STORY OF ÉUDIO MACEDO, JOURNALIST FROM RIO GRANDE DO SUL AT CBF. BUT PELÉ INTERRUPTED BY ASKING FOR THE CATALOG, SAYING: THESE PAGES TOGETHER ARE LIKE THE PLAYERS OF A UNITED TEAM, INVINCIBLE. BUT IF EACH ONE WANTS TO PLAY ONLY FOR THEMSELVES, THEY ARE FRAGILE AS THE PAGES ONE BY ONE, AND WITHOUT STOPPING TALKING, WITHOUT LOOKING, EXCEPT AT THE ATHLETES, THEY WERE TEARING ONE BY ONE, FROM THE HARDEST COVER, EASILY, AS IF IN SLOW MOTION, FOR EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND. NEVER FORGET, I NEVER FORGOT IN PRACTICE THE WELL-KNOWN CONCEPT OF SYNERGY, IN WHICH 10 BOARDS TOGETHER SUPPORT MUCH MORE WEIGHT THAN THE SUM THAT EACH ONE ACHIEVES ALONE. IF A BOARD CAN HOLD 70 KILOS, 10 KILOS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER CAN HOLD MUCH MORE THAN THE 700.

HE DRANK A SIP OF WATER, TOOK PHOTOS, RARE, IT WAS NOT TIME FOR CELL PHONES, SAID GOODBYE EFFUSIVELY TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE, HUGS LIKE THOSE OF OLD FRIENDS, GREETED THE AMAZED AND HONORED EMPLOYEES, WAVED TO THE CROWD THAT WENT WILD, GOT INTO HIS CHARIOT OF FIRE AND WENT TO THE MANY OTHER APPOINTMENTS OF A KING, LE ROI,  GREATEST OF ALL, 3 (THREE) TIMES WORLD CHAMPION, MORE THAN 1300 GOALS SCORED. IT STOPPED WARS.

A GENIUS, THE GREATEST AMONG OTHER GENIUSES I HAVE SEEN!

P.S. – WE WON OUR GROUP, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO PLAY AT OUR HEADQUARTERS, WHERE WE WERE ALREADY USED TO, WITH THE SECOND FROM ANOTHER GROUP, WHERE SPAIN AND GHANA WERE. SPAIN TO ESCAPE THE CONFRONTATION WITH US SUFFERED A ROUT IN THE LAST GAME OF THE INITIAL PHASE AND THREW GHANA AT US. FIFA CHANGED THE VENUE OF THE GAME, TO THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE PLACED, WHICH HAD THOUSANDS OF GHANAIAN FANS, AS WELL AS A GOOD AND “EXPERIENCED” TEAM, IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND ME. GHANA 1-0, IN THE QUARTERFINALS, FIGHTING LIKE HEROES, UNITED UNTIL THE END. BUT THE KING’S TEACHINGS WERE IMPORTANT FOR LIFE. AS FAR AS I CAN REMEMBER, GHANA WAS CHAMPION.

P.S. 2 – TWO YEARS LATER, IN 1993 WE FACED THE SAME GHANA IN THE FINAL OF AUSTRALIA, UNDER 20 (BORN AFTER AUGUST 1, 1973) PLAYERS AGED 19 AND 18, AND WE WENT TO THE FOREFRONT, BEATING THEM IN THE FINAL BY 2 X 1, BECOMING CHAMPIONS AND GIVING BRAZIL ITS 3* TITLE (JAIR PEREIRA IN 1983,  GILSON NUNES IN 1985 – WORK I STARTED IN 1984) OUT OF 5 ALREADY CONQUERED.

P.S. 3 – IN MY HUMBLE BOOK FUTEBOL ARTE E OFÍCIO, PUBLISHED BY SRINT, RELEASED IN 2000, THERE IS A PAGE WITH THE GENIUSES I SAW, CATANEDOS TODAY YOU CAN ONLY FIND THE BOOK IN SECOND-HAND STORES OR ON AMAZON, BECAUSE AFTER TWO EDITIONS OF 10000 THE PUBLISHER NO LONGER PUBLISHED IT.

P.S. 4 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COUSIN JULIO CAMACHO! BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY! KISSES

P.S. 5 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIENDGOLDEN’S PIONNEER AND AN ENCICLOPEDY RONALD SIMÕES DE CARVALHO! HAVE A NICE NEW AGE! A LOT OF CANDLESTO BLOW!