Whether they win a third-placed playoff against Al Ahly or not, Flamengo will return home to Brazil from the Club World Cup licking their wounds. Flamengo went to Morocco with high hopes of winning the Mundial – a competition that is not always taken seriously by Europeans but that remains the holy grail for South American clubs.
“We are arriving with a lot of expectations,” said Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa earlier this week. “The Mundial is a championship we all dream about. Our squad is strong, with experienced and national team players. We have to put our game on the field and do our best: one game at a time, without rushing.”
While Gabigol’s attitude was quite humble, Flamengo vice-president Marcos Braz went viral when a video emerged of him calling out the team they expected to face in the final. “Real Madrid, your time will come,” chanted Braz in a clip that came back to haunt Flamengo after their embarrassing 3-2 defeat to Al-Hilal in the semi-finals. The Saudi team apparently used the clip as motivation, unimpressed by the arrogance of opponents who presumed they had already reached the final.
Zico, who wore the Flamengo No10 shirt long before Gabigol, did not approve of the cocky locker room conduct either. “If fans are singing, OK, I don’t see any problem. Fans are fans, that’s normal. What cannot be done is for professionals to do this. You have to be respectful, especially with a team like Real Madrid,” he insisted. “Flamengo is at the level it is today thanks to two sales to Real Madrid, which made it possible for them to assemble a great squad. The departure of Vinicius Jr and Reinier yielded well for the coffers, so they had to respect Real Madrid. Nowadays, changes come quickly.”
They certainly do at the Maracanã. As Gabigol pointed out when we spoke to him earlier this week: “2022 finished in a very good way for us. We landed two big titles.” Despite winning the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores, though, the club decided to replace Dorival Júnior with Vítor Pereira, the manager Júnior had beaten when Flamengo defeated Corinthians in the Copa do Brasil final.
A few reasons have been put forward to explain Flamengo’s poor performance against Al Hilal. They may be victims of Brazil’s packed calendar, which was offered as a reason when Palmeiras lost their Club World Cup semi-final in 2021. Flamengo played 77 games last year – at least nine in most months – and are currently in their close-season break.
They are also coping without João Gomes, who joined Wolves for €18.7m in the January transfer window. The 21-year-old made 64 appearances last season, offering protection to centre-backs David Luiz and Léo Pereira. Flamengo have struggled in their two games so far without him, losing the Super Cup 4-3 to Palmeiras and then failing to beat Al Hilal in embarrassing fashion. Not only did they lack intensity against Al Hilal, but mistakes cost them dearly, with two of the three goals they conceded coming from the penalty spot.
Flamengo also played the entire second half with 10 men, with Gerson sent off for two bookable offences in the first 45 minutes. Rather than pointing fingers at individuals, Zico thought something was off with the whole team. “Flamengo was not Flamengo on the field and many problems made that happen,” he said. “I didn’t see Flamengo happy, cheerful, with that hunger and spirit that we are used to seeing.”
There has also been criticism of Pereira, with many fans baffled by his decision to replace his two most creative midfielders – Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Éverton Ribeiro – when Flamengo were chasing the game. De Arrascaeta was hooked at half-time for the more defensive Erick Pulgar, and Everton Soares – who failed to live up to his potential at Benfica and is now back at Flamengo – came on for Ribeiro just two minutes before Luciano Vietto scored Al Hilal’s third goal.
The defeat has been tough for Flamengo fans. They are being mocked both by supporters of rival clubs such as Palmeiras – who have never won the Mundial themselves – and those who have won the competition more than Flamengo’s one title, such as Corinthians and São Paulo. Some Flamengo fans are already calling for Pereira’s head.
Zico sympathised with the fans who made huge sacrifices to travel to Morocco. Brazil is an expensive place to live, but there are many tales of fanatics selling their houses or delivery drivers selling their motorcycles to finance trips to the Mundial, as was seen when Corinthians beat Chelsea in the final in 2012, still the last time a South American side has won the competition.
“The defeat has brought great sadness, especially for the fans,” said Zico. “The players and coaching staff are more used to these happy moments and difficult moments, so they will overcome them. But the fans here in Morocco were very hopeful and excited. I am very sorry for the fans, because people came here from all over Brazil, a fantastic thing. You see 15,000 people with tickets already bought for the final. Given the strength and quality of the team, nobody expected the defeat. But we weren’t well prepared for that kind of game.”
Flamengo have a hard road ahead. The team can achieve a mild form of redemption by beating Al Ahly in the third-place playoff. Pereira will probably keep job, but he will need to retain the Copa Libertadores and overcome Palmeiras in the league to win over the fans. Mauro Cezar, one of the biggest pundits in Brazil, thinks his fellow Flamengo fans should show more faith in Pereira. “He is an international coach with a very broad understanding of what Brazilian football is. He has a higher level than what Flamengo had under Dorival Júnior, who entered an emergency situation that worked out for him by winning titles.”
Cezar compares Dorival’s success with Flamengo last year to what Roberto Di Matteo achieved at Chelsea when he won the Champions League in 2012. “Dorival inherited a very good squad by South American standards, adjusted, and was champion. But at the end of last year, his approach to games was already showing wear and tear. The team suffered some ugly defeats and did not play well. He didn’t seem to be able to make the team evolve and that’s why they looked for another coach. Flamengo had the best car and hired a driver who was not the best but managed to move that car forward. They crossed the finish line as if it had run out of fuel and dragged themselves to reach the finish line, and it wasn’t meant to be like that.”
Cezar points out that the season has not even begun yet and fans should judge Pereira on the Libertadores, Brasileirão and Copa do Brasil. “The season is far from being defined,” he says, but things can go south very easily in Brazil. If Flamengo do not win the Campeonato Carioca – the Rio state championship – Pereira could be shown the exit door before he has had a chance to progress in the bigger competitions. By the time the manager returns to Rio, the city will be sweltering in 40-degree heat and approaching the height of carnival season. But he will be on thin ice.