Corinthians, the last superhero against the giants of Europe: from the memory of Socrates to the contribution of Tite

It happened like this. The day on which the best of his journey to world glory began was one of the saddest in its history. The same Sunday he became champion of Brazilian 2011, his people shouted the most painful farewell, that of the most representative of his idols: Socrates. Curiosity or destiny: that lanky midfielder who moved with his football and his generosity could not see one of his club’s exploits: the following year, in Japanese territory, the thyme won the FIFA Club World Cup after beating Chelsea 1-0 in the finalwith a goal from the Peruvian Paolo Guerrero and a colossal performance from his goalkeeper Cassio.

Since then, the victories have all been for the winners of the Champions League. In chronological order: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Treble Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea last year, the last in which the trophy was played in this format.

From now on it will be called FIFA Club Super World Cup, it will have 24 teams and will be played (at least in its inaugural edition) in China. There are no confirmed dates yet. 2024 and 2025 appear as possibilities in these extremely tight football calendars. Portrait of this time.

A shared cry and the first step towards glory

The Pacaembu stadium, on that day in 2011, experienced a day crossed by many sensations: the emptiness, the tears, the gratitude, the contradictory celebration, the classic, the respect, the pain, the inevitably dosed party. Corinthians needed – and obtained – a draw in the classic against Palmeiras to consecrate themselves at national level for the first time since 2005, when Carlos Tevez played as an idol in the club.

in the stands, the farewell to the great Socrates had changed the scenario of the imminence of another Olympic round and the insights of an audience that has always adored him, even now that he’s gone. The multiple flags exhibited the main meaning of that day: “Doctor Obrigado” (“Thank you doctor”) they said – in black and white, of course – on each side of the stadium. The crack they had loved so much and that had made them so big was gone. They had gone to celebrate. But they participated, above all, in a gratitude: first there was a silence of those who feel as if they were screams. And then, unanimous applause.

Consecration could not fill his game. That man had been too relevant, that crack. In the 1980s, for example, this Che Guevara admirer was a participant and ideologue in a research that amazed his country and his sport: the Corinthians Democratic Movement, which led the São Paulo club to hold democratic elections. internal. It was much more: it was an unequivocal message of rejection of the dictatorship, which was already beginning to retreat after two decades in power.

Corinthian democracy, popularity and consecration

Socrates manifested from the left. And from his admiration for Fidel Castro came the name of one of his sons. In this regard, Socrates once told the following anecdote in a BBC interview: “When I called one of my sons Fidel, my mother said to me: ‘It’s a bit strong name for a boy’. And I replied: ‘Mom, look what you did to me'”.

They say he could also have been called John, after Lennon, another of his most popular characters. The affinity was logical: Socrates believed in a world like the one presented in the song “To imagine”: “Don’t imagine possessions, / I wonder if you can, / no need for greed or hunger, / a brotherhood of men, / imagine all people / sharing the whole world … // you can say I’m a dreamer, / But I’m not the only one, / I hope someday you’ll join us, / and the world will live as one “. And he wanted to transfer that world into his Corinthians.

Corinthian democracy was a milestone in the history of football, but also of the life of a people struck by the horrors of intolerance. Ariel Scher wrote it, with the charm of his words and with the impression of having met him under the sky of Plaza San Martín: “Sócrates never exchanged a word with Fat Victor but gave him a wealth of values ​​in every game, in every goal and in every corner. And also, or more, in the forging of Corinthian Democracy, that avalanche of ideas, of transgressions. and hopes that, with a slap of dignity, broke for a while the logic of power in football and more than football “. That was, that was and is that building that deserves all memories.

The journalist Manolo Eppelbaum, who lived a lot of Brazilian football, recalled in those days of 2011 an anecdote that portrays how the phenomenon of his fans is not new: “At the end of 1976, the Brazilian Championship was established – in the semifinal – between Fluminense and Corinthians in the middle of the Maracanã. midnight, I saw a giant truck with a banner on its backside ‘Hoje só carregoesperaça’ (today I carry only hope) and a Corinthian shield. Through the radio I learned that the next day it would be aired at the Maracana. The next day, already at the Maracana, I could see nothing less than, according to statistics, 450 São Paulo buses were parked on all platforms and around the imposing stadium. According to the calculations, the stadium housed around 180,000 spectators and, on penalties, Corinthians eliminated Fluminense and reached the final of the National Championship “..

In the decisive match of that 2012 Club World Cup, there were about 18,000 fans in the Yokohama International Stadium from thyme. They – nicknamed “Gaviões from Fiel“- they say they are the most followers and have even founded a school of samba which has exceeded 100,000 members. In most polls it appears as the São Paulo club with the largest number of fans; but nationally it is matched by the Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro.

A history of stocks, cracks and swings

The data indicates: Seven-time champion of Brazil, Corinthians are the Sao Paulo team that have won Estadual multiple times (30 in total, six more than their historic rival, Palmeiras, and eight more than Sao Paulo and Santos, the other giants of the state ). In its path that began 112 years ago, the club has been a space of figures: Biro Biro, Sócrates, Casão, Chicão, Rosinei, Luizão, Tupãzinho, Neco, Ricardinho, Dentinho, Marcelinho, Basílio, Luizinho, Rivelino, Zé Maria, Ronaldo , Dida, Gilmar, Roberto Carlos, Paraguayan Gamarra, Baltazar, André Santos, Colombian Rincón, Vampeta, Nilmar, Argentinian Tevez and Mascherano, Neto, Palinha, Brandão, Neco, among many others.

However, the 2011/2012 cycle was the best in its history in terms of results. At the end of 2011, Brasileirao won, three years after playing in Serie B. In 2007 the team had fallen and had been the scene of scandals during the administration of President Alberto Dualib, identified as the main responsible and even accused of money laundering and fraudulent management.

But it was rebuilding itself under the leadership of Andrés Navarro Sánchez, a member of the Workers’ Party, who at 12 was already doing taareas like a funfair to help his family. Remember: Corinthians was born from the impulse of a group of workers. Navarro Sánchez saw him champion as a proud fan of his task as leader. He left his position in early 2012. Already with former policeman Mario Gobbi, il thyme had the first Copa Libertadores of his long life and his second FIFA Club World Cup (in 2000, as a guest, he won the first edition after beating Vasco da Gama in the final).

the Japanese adventure

His reinforcements for the Club World Cup were two players who could only be paid such salaries in the European Leagues: Paolo Guerrero – the author of the team’s two goals in Japan, one to beat Al Ahly, in the semifinals; and the other to defeat Chelsea – and Argentine Juan Manuel Martínez, who was then going through the best of his career. In any case, great figure of this competition was his goalkeeper Cassio, winner of the Golden Ball of that World Cup and whose only relevant international background had been participation in the 2007 Under-20 World Cup.

To access this maximum achievement, the Corinthians had a reasonable idea: to assume a coach who had given perfect samples of his management of resources and important teams. Adenor Leonardo Bacchi known as Tite; yes, the current coach of selected green yellow– he distinguished himself in the Porto Alegre International. A gaúcho born in Caxias do Sul was the right one to transform the São Paulo giant into a universal team. He did it with a trait unrelated to the old school of Brazilian football: there was no familiarity between the good match and the way to face each match of the winning one thyme. Boca knew it, in the decisive match of the Libertadores. Chelsea learned it, in that closed final.

That Corinthians were a specialist in making their rivals play badly. And he stood out in something else: offering little got a lot. The data are testimonials in this regard: of the 16 games played between Libertadores and the Club World Cup he won ten and drew six (five outside Pacaembu). He converted 22 goals and barely conceded four (no one could ever score more than one goal against him). It was pure efficiency. He won all stripped of the magic of another era.

In any case, after the consecration Tite himself paid a dutiful tribute to the man who was no longer there: “This also applies to Sócrates and to all those who have made Corinthians a great club.”