Ryo dawned, slept, and swept the night in red and black. The abundance of T-shirts on the streets before the match seemed like a harbinger. The game came. And then came the hard-won and unforgettable victory. A victory born from a goal in the form of a quote. The youngsters certainly don’t remember it, but Flamengo actually won some titles from corner kicks. Until yesterday, there was no goal more magnificent than Rondinelli’s goal at the end of the 1978 Carioca Championship.
If Danilo’s goal yesterday had a written phrase…it could have been Zico’s quote from that day when he took a corner kick at the Maraca:
– It’s the only goal that gives me goosebumps.
Maybe now there’s something else, Dick.
The hero, as happens only in decisions, was born in distraction. Before the match… statisticians and analysts indicated that only two players scored goals for Flamengo in the Libertadores final: the aforementioned Zico and Gabigol. But…and Santos? No one cared much, but in 2011, in the final that Santos won over Peñarol… there was another goalscorer. A right-back has scored a goal. In Lima, now more of a veteran, this athlete will play as a defender.
In the 21st minute of the second half, Palmeiras’ defense appeared to be suffering from a kind of mental spasm. Suddenly, at the entrance to the area, near the Crescent, Danilo found himself completely alone. It was an island with a mysterious shadow of the boy Alan.
Arrascaeta took the corner kick with a classic parabola, the kind that escapes the penalty area with the aim of finding a header at the highest point. Without any disturbance at all, Danilo ran towards the ball and found it at the highest point. He was all alone, experiencing his name directly in the red and black book of history.
The goal is an almost perfect quote from Rondinelli’s goal. Not quite because the “Race God” almost ascends to the second pole and heads straight up. Danilo advanced in the middle of the area and headed home a cross. There, as here…the defense was scattered. Yesterday… who was he? Should Alan support Danilo? Does any defender have to step off the goal line to make the tackle? In the picture, the one who comes out badly is Bruno Fox lying on the ground on his opponent’s waist. Could it be his fault? This explanation will be left to the resigned Abel Ferreira in the post-mortem of the defeat.
Flamengo has little to do with this or that failure. In decisions, whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins. If he was not making little, Palmeiras was creating even less – relying only on the countless endless balls into the area. Flamengo were slightly better and had the better chances.
Rondinelli’s goal opens the gallery of titles for the best Flamengo in history… Confirmed in 1981. Danilo’s goal caps the salvage of that pride that began just over a decade ago – when a group of passionate fans in red and black took over a debt-ridden club and began the revolution that transformed the club into a continental powerhouse.
The goal was precisely this: to always fight for everything, to get to the proverbial next level. And 2025 is not over yet: the Brazilian title is supposed to come on Wednesday, and if all goes well, the title holders will have time to rest before the Intercontinental. Until then, the red and black are enjoying sweet revenge against Palmeiras by displaying the fourth trophy on their shirt, the third Libertadores Cup in six years and making a mockery of sovereignty.