10 notable facts from the Hurricane campaign

Athletico won the 28th title of the Campeonato Paranaense after beating Maringá FC on Saturday (6). Remember 10 remarkable episodes of the first achievement of the Hurricane’s centenary!

Pablo: top scorer and decisive

The striker’s free kick scored a 1-0 victory in the first game of the final. On his return, he scored the goal that opened the scoring in the decisive duel, at the Ligga Arena. In this Paraná state, Pablo further increased idolatry in Rubro-Negro.

One of the symbols of the club’s most successful era, the striker reached the mark of 68 goals with the red-black shirt and established himself on the list of the 10 greatest scorers in Furacão’s history.

The team’s top scorer with six goals in 13 games, Pablo scored against all of Athletico’s opponents in the knockout stages.

Centenary athlete

The State Championship featured the only classic of the year, as Coritiba will compete in Série B. The game ended in a 1-1 draw: Mastriani scored the goal for Furacão, Matheus Bianqui equalized for Coxa.

The duel ended up being marked by the extravagant attitudes of the Colombian coach, Juan Carlos Osorio. At Couto Pereira, the Atletico commander demonstrated exotic behavior and interacted with the rival fans, sending ironic kisses to the white thighs.

Furthermore, Atletiba was notable for taking place on the day of the death of Coritiba’s director, Júnior Chávare, who died of a heart attack on the morning of the classic.

Juan Carlos Osorio

Speaking of Osorio, hired on the third day of the year, the Colombian spent 12 games at Athletico and was only fired for the defeat to Londrina, in the first game of the quarter-finals.

The passage was marked by controversial interviews. In the classic against Coritiba, in which he mocked the Alviverde fans, he criticized the football played by the teams: “Very bad, very poor, very weak. It was sad”, he said, with a certain lack of control.

After that, the coach lost prestige and ended up being fired after stopping striker Gonzalo Mastriani in the game against Londrina. By personal choice, Osorio preferred Lucas Di Yorio and did not include Mastriani, this season’s big signing, at any point in the match.

Limit of foreigners

The Paranaense Championship has a limit of five foreign players per team in all games. With nine foreigners, Hurricane was the biggest loser.

The red and black squad currently includes: Gamarra, Leo Godoy, Esquivel, Zapelli, Mastriani, Di Yorio, Cannobio, Romeo Benítez and Cuello. In other words, there was a lack of space and the coaches had to prioritize choices and manage the locker room.

Arrival of Cuca

After Osorio’s dismissal, Athletico sought out coach Cuca, who was away from football, to resolve the legal issue of the case of rape accusations against a minor in Switzerland. In December last year, the coach obtained the annulment of the conviction.

Even with resistance from fans, the commander made a positive impact on the team’s performance. Cuca had the best start to his career at Athletico in the last 15 years of his career. Furacão has been unbeatable since the coach’s arrival.

Bento selection holder

During the State competition, goalkeeper Bento was called up to defend the Brazilian team under the command of Dorival Junior. With injuries to Ederson, from Manchester City, and Alisson, from Liverpool, Bento started in the victory over England and the draw against Spain.

With good interventions, the Atletico goalkeeper gained even more value on the international market. With Italian citizenship and 24 years old, the player has already had offers from Benfica and Inter Milan.

The expectation is that the sale of Bento to European football will exceed the mark of 8 million euros, the value of Alisson’s sale of Internacional to Roma. In this way, the deal would become the biggest sale of a Brazilian goalkeeper in history.

Bento’s ownership was historic. The only Athletico goalkeeper who was ever a member of the Brazilian national team’s main team in an official game was Alfredo Gottardi, known as Caju and after whom the red-black CT is named, in 1942. It is worth remembering that Bento is the seventh goalkeeper called up for the selection defending Athletico – Caju, Roberto Costa, Neto, Weverton, Santos and Mycael were the others.

Benedict’s successor

With the call-up of Bento, Athletico’s reserve goalkeeper. Léo Linck shone in the semifinal against Operário. In the return game, under the eyes of the fans, he was fundamental with four good saves in the first half and avoided a possible upset in the knockout stage.

The performance gave confidence to the player, club and fans. The young man had already made a good impression in the game against Fluminense, in Brasileirão 2023, and reinforced that the red-and-black goal is well protected.

Audience record

Athletico changed its ticket policy and reduced prices at the beginning of this season. Furacão had been charging R$45 for the cheapest entry in the previous stages of Paranaense. As a result, the audience increased considerably in the knockout stage.

In the semi-final against Operário, 35,298 people were registered at the Ligga Arena. The final against Maringá registered the best paying public in 2024. With 37,758 present (36,692 paying) for an income of R$ 1,368,240.00, the game did not break the new stadium’s record, but entered the top-5 of best audiences in history.

Punishment for the fans

It’s worth remembering that Athletico started the season with three games without fans in Curitiba. The club had been punished for the confusion in the classic against Coritiba last year, in which players clashed on the pitch and clashes between fans were recorded across the city.

The TJD-PR (Paraná Court of Sports Justice) even suspended the penalty conversion, which allowed the exclusive audience of women, children up to 12 years old and people with disabilities in the stands.

The first duel that Furacão had with free fans was the 1-0 victory over FC Cascavel, in the seventh round. Since then, Furacão has won four of the five duels at the Ligga Arena, with 11 goals scored and only one conceded.

Title on the centenary

With the Campeonato Paranaense cup, Athletico takes at least one title in the year in which it celebrates 100 years of history. The team still aims to be three-times champion of the Copa Sudamericana and dreams of the Brazilian title.

The festivities, intensified during the week of March 26th, began with the launch of the new uniforms and were attended by fans around the Ligga Arena during the early hours of the anniversary day.

+ Download the poster of Athletico champion of the 2024 Paranaense Championship