What a series about Dorival Júnior would be like – 09/25/2023 – Sandro Macedo

São Paulo fans woke up on Monday like a sovereign chick in the trash after winning the Copa do Brasil for the first time. But, if São Paulo’s first significant achievement in a long time deserves a film, Dorival Júnior’s third Copa do Brasil title would yield a series, one of those with ten episodes.

Dorival always seemed like that “he won, but also…” coach. The “but also” was something that disqualified the master’s work.

The first episode of the series could have been with Dorival still a player, a midfielder, when he only went by the nickname Júnior. It could be a scene with Júnior playing for Palmeiras, in the early 1990s, and taking a beating from São Paulo, at Morumbi (just to have a complete cycle).

Palmeiras in those days used to do better against Corinthians and worse against São Paulo (something that varied little).

The following episodes would show Dorival’s beginnings as a coach, winning state titles outside the main centers (with all due respect).

Until, in 2010, he will coach Santos, known as Santástico, one of the hottest duo in Brazil: Neymar, the unstoppable, and Ganso, playing more than any waterfowl in the universe.

That year, Dorival won the first Brazilian Cup, against Vitória. And then the critics would say, “but also”, the Libertadores teams, like São Paulo, didn’t compete in the cup. Or, “but also”, with Ganso and Neymar, even me. Dorival left Santos after problems with Neymar, who was just a boy, but was becoming a monster, they said.

The following episodes would have the professor saving big teams in crisis, including São Paulo itself, in 2017. It seemed that Dorival would be the eternal firefighter, just putting out fires.

Chapter 8 would be with drama and sadness. After recovering Flamengo and reaching runner-up, the coach was dismissed from the club — at the time, they didn’t like runners-up. Between 2020 and 2022, he was unemployed for practically a year and a half. Nobody wanted the teacher. Or the teacher didn’t want whoever showed up — scenes of him at home, playing button or giving a motivational talk to his grandchildren.

Until Ceará came, and the table (plus the universe) conspired in favor of the Brazilian Championship-2022. (This, in fact, will be episode 9, the penultimate. In the best “Game of Thrones” style, the penultimate is the one that includes unexpected deaths, betrayals and epic battles.)

Ceará debuted in the Brazilian Championship, beating future champion Palmeiras in the middle of Allianz. In just ten games, he collected good draws against São Paulo, at Morumbi, and Paulo Sousa’s Flamengo.

If it were another table, perhaps no one would pay attention to the results. But that sequence was essential for Flamengo (the “Lannisters” of the series) to use their unlimited money and seduce Dorival. And the young man ended the year with the Copa do Brasil and Libertadores titles. However, the “but also” crowd is back. But also, with this team, anyone is a champion (except Renato Gaúcho and Paulo Sousa). The chapter would end with the beheading of Dorival by Landim Lannister.

The last episode, in 2023, would begin with a highlight for Corinthians. The team without a coach preferred to give a chance to the friendly analyst Lázaro. Then, he went after Cuca. He had chances to look for the unemployed Dorival more than once, but ended up with Luxemburgo, Vanderlei.

Dorival ended up at São Paulo. And, at the whim of football writers —who are not gods, they are demons—, they eliminated Corinthians in the semi-final and the former Flamengo in the final of the Copa do Brasil.

This time, there is no grumpy person capable of putting a “but also” on the teacher’s achievement. The series could end with Dorival’s cell phone ringing live. On the other side, Braz Lannister, the Hand of Landim: “Hi Dorival, congratulations, we want you back. We have more gold.” Dorival, smiling and always a gentleman, would say, “put the gold in…(piiii)”. Series name? Maybe “Sovereign is Dorival”.

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