No one forgets the first cup – 11/05/2023 – Juca Kfouri

Where to start?

By a goalkeeper called Fábio, 43 years old?

Or by a left-back named Marcelo, aged 35?

Maybe by a midfielder called Paulo Henrique Ganso, 34?

Do any of them compare to striker Germán Cano, 35?

The goalkeeper left Cruzeiro, where he was called São Fábio, mistreated, as a case closed.

The full-back won everything he could win at Real Madrid and returned to finish his career at the club that revealed him.

The midfielder looked like he would never be anything like his start at Santos again.

Finally, the striker, who scores goals like eating ice cream, is the Argentine who was denied his country’s national team shirt.

So these are the guys, are they responsible for Fluminense’s unprecedented Libertadores?

Yes, they are. But not only.

Are you going to forget the Colombian Jhon Arias, 26, smoother than a stick of tallow, devilish to the point of never being in the place his opponent imagines he would be?

Or Keno, 34, who scored two passes for the goals that defeated Boca Juniors?

When saluting the champions, no one can be left aside, not even the controversial Felipe Melo, 40, a source of constant concern for fans because you never know at what moment he will lose his head, and loved by his colleagues.

Much less of John Kennedy Batista de Souza, 21, the restless kid who seemed lost and scored the title goal, ended up being expelled for celebrating in the crowd and gained, among the tricolors, as special a place as his namesake murdered in Dallas has among the American Democrats.

And there is Samuel Xavier, the right-back with magical and decisive goals, the captain Nino, 26 — let’s face it, you need to be a great leader to be called Nino and be the commander —, the boy André, 22, a modern midfielder, area to area, so mature that he appears to be the oldest in the cast.

And there’s Martinelli, and Marlon, and Lima, and Guga and Diogo Barbosa.

“You won’t forget Fernando Diniz, will you?” perhaps the rare tricolor readers thought.

Of course not, but first it’s worth mentioning another constellation that has the Laranjeiras team at heart: Castilho, Nelson Rodrigues, Chico Buarque, Millôr Fernandes and Danilo Miranda; Jô Soares, Arthur Moreira Lima, Fernanda Montenegro and Ivan Lins; Telê Santana, Fred and Gilberto Gil.

Why, this team has 12! Twelve? There is a lot more. There’s Jobim. There’s Cartola, and he’s not a leader, there’s Letícia Spiller, Paulo Gustavo, so many, like Lulu and even Dumont, Santos.

If I mention them all, there will be no space to talk about Diniz.

Short and thick: his team plays like a Brazilian, as the team hasn’t played in a while, not even with him; All that is required of him now is to take Fluminense to the FIFA Club World Cup final against Manchester City, less for the English team, which is awesome, but to meet Pep Guardiola.

Finally, an appeal and an observation.

The appeal goes to Lionel Scaloni, the young and victorious world champion coach for Argentina: call on Cano to wear the national team’s shirt at least once. He doesn’t just shine in the Brazilian Championship. He shone in the biggest tournament on the continent.

The finding: did you realize that Fluminense has six starting players over 34 years old? It is high time to denounce ageism in Brazil as is done with racism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. Words from a young journalist at the beginning of his career.

Long live Flu!

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