Athletico 100 years: Bolinha, the red-black Buddha

Whenever a rival or rival says that Athletico is an “owner’s team” I agree and then thank the heavens that the owner is the little ball. The miner from Varginha Edmilson Aparecido Pinto, who recently celebrated 30 years at Athletico, is not only the oldest and most efficient employee; It is the living memory of the institution.

With his bandana reading “health, life and victory”, he is not only the last survivor of the club’s most difficult period; Bolinha is the red-black Buddha, the one who understands the real nature of the phenomena that govern our history.

When Bolinha arrived in Baixada at the end of 1993, the national currency was the URV, Pablo Escobar was still alive and the Chevette was still being manufactured. At Athletico, the scenario was bleak. The stadium under reconstruction, second-line material and all possible shortages. Bolinha says he thought about leaving, but stayed to see and participate in the club’s great transformation.

Since then, Bolinha has been featured in countless titles. He has already traveled around the world several times. He celebrated great victories and brooded over great disappointments. Several generations of players passed through his hands. His state of mind has always been the thermometer in the Atletico locker room. In 2011, after an ulcer ruptured, he spent 45 days in the ICU between life and death. Bolinha recovered, but the team without him fell.

In recent years, he has retired, unretired, been away due to the pandemic and returned. In time to be South American champion at the same Centenário Stadium where he had opened the locker room door in 2000 in our first Libertadores. For everything he saw and experienced in the name of Athletico, Bolinha is in fact the owner of the whole “thing”.