Fernando Diniz completes a victorious year defending football as art and creating bonds – 11/04/2023 – Sport

On the eve of the Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors, coach Fernando Diniz, from Fluminense, theorized about how art and science influence football and the memory that teams leave with fans.

“Is football art or is it science? If you ask me, I think it is more art than science, but you need science. When it happens in an artistic way, it remains ingrained in the fans’ memory forever. When it happens in a more scientific way, this is more difficult to happen, it becomes something more mechanical.”

A day later, Diniz consolidated the year 2023 as the year in which his convictions won him cups by leading Fluminense in winning the Libertadores against Boca Juniors.

Diniz won the first title of his career in the first half of the year, winning the Rio de Janeiro State Championship with a thrashing of arch-rivals Flamengo. It was the first cup after 15 years of career, 6 of them at the head of big clubs (Athletico, Fluminense, São Paulo, Santos and Vasco). A trajectory in which he was always recognized as a promising coach but, until then, without fulfilling his potential.

Accumulating the role of coach of Fluminense and the Brazilian team, he stated before the final that he is not concerned with external evaluations. He recognized, however, the weight of the achievements for his new status.

“What will happen tomorrow [sábado], the result, always changes the status quo of things, of how people see you. But for me, in my life, not how people see me. It’s how I see myself. In that sense, I’m not at the mercy of the ball that will go in and the one that won’t go in,” he said.

Fluminense’s ball went in twice, once with Germán Cano and once with John Kennedy. The scorer of the title goal is one of the main symbols of the work in the Libertadores champion. Previously considered a “problem boy”, the striker established himself under the command of Diniz, who “prophesied” the title goal by putting the athlete in the match.

“He’s going to score the title goal,” the coach told John Kennedy.

The coach states that the off-field relationship with the players and the emotional bonds he creates are part of his work.

“This title doesn’t depend on the balls that go in or don’t go in, it depends on your dedication and that interaction, that human approach that I like to have with the players. And we collect that”, he said, the day before the victory.

“Every time we manage to build these bonds, we end up getting closer to winning. Although winning, in this case, from construction, is not determined, because often you don’t win, but your emotional construction for the person be better, it is a continuous act.”

As soon as the referee whistled the end of extra time, decreeing Fluminense 2-1 over Boca Juniors, the coach danced on the field, did somersaults and ran to the stands to hug the fans. He was the first to have his name shouted from the stands after the victory, before any player.

This time, Diniz built bonds and won.