By Bruno Romani.
No other stadium in the world is as beautiful as a full Maracanã. No other stadium in the world is the final destination of so much tears of sadness as the Maracanã. The Maracanazzo happened one more time. The victim this time was Fluminense in the most important match of its history. 90 thousand fans showed up and celebrated. Coach Renato Gaúcho was celebrating since last week. And the Flu drowned in its own self-confidence. After eliminating São Paulo and Boca, Flu started the match very relaxed, as if it could win at any time. But the ball punishes. Bollanos scored for LDU with just 6 minutes into the match.

That’s when the home team realized what was happening. Thiago Neves (whom you heard first here on this blog) started to play. The Flu suffocated LDU on its own field, leaving just a few spaces for the visitors. With 10 minutes, Neves dribbled and shot from far. The keeper did not reach the ball and the Maracanã exploded in one big sound. The early made the title a little more real. Too bad Washington and Conca, two of the club’s stars, were just in the beginning of terrible night. Otherwise the Flu could’ve comeback. The only guy awake was Thiago Neves. Junior César crossed and the number 10 scored his second of the night. For LDU, defending with soul and counter-attacking if possible was all that was left. But defender Thiago Silva, one of the best in Brazil, took care of that.

The second-half started and things had changed very little. The keeper from LDU did not inspire any safety, and the goal was a matter of time. With 10 minutes, a free-kick. Like no other stadium in the world, the net from Maracanã is an invitation for goals from free-kicks. And Thiagos Neves accepted that invitation. By scoring such goal, Neves becomes the first man to score a hat-trick in the final of Libertadores, something that not even Zico or Pelé had done. The 3-1 was sending the match to the extra-time. Instead of searching the fourth, Flu stopped. The 3-1 worked against São Paulo. It worked against Boca. But it wasn’t enough against LDU. And the match went to the extra-time.

However, the word extra never felt so proper. The 30 minutes just extended the suffering and suffocated everyone in the stadium. Both teams refused to play, and the match went to the penalties.

All the ghosts from the stadium were on the pitch one more time. The 3 most important players of Flu missed their penalties. Conca, one of the best midfielders in Brazil. Washington, the Brave heart who scored breath taking goals against São Paulo and Boca. And Thiagos Neves. The number ten confirmed another tradition: great players who miss important players. Not only that, the keeper, who seemed it was going to concede a goal at any moment during the 120 minutes, denied the 3 penalties. The silence was painful. Bodies moved numb.

Like São Paulo (94), Palmeiras (00) and São Caetano (02), Fluminense lost the title at home in the penalties.

Worse than that: When Flu wake up from the dream of Copa Libertadores tomorrow, it will realize it seats in the last spot of Campeonato Brasileiro. What a curse Maracanã has.

I get the feeling that Brazil will not win the 2014 World Cup.

PS1: Thiago Neves and Thiago Silva are national team material. I hope they don’t get infected with the European vírus. But this is another story.

PS2: You will hear a lot f people saying that this was the most painful match of Fluminense’s history. But a club that visited third division simply for poor results on the pitch just about a decade ago cannot consider this loss as its worst.

Started Like This:

And ended like this: