With the historic achievement of the Brazilian Championship and the Copa Libertadores late last year, Botafogo’s fans could not imagine that, after about three months since the unprecedented feat, the reality lived by the team on the pitch would be so different.
Defeats in sequence and early elimination in the state of a team without a defined and missing technical command of important pieces have transformed the euphoria of fans into concern.
The last disappointment came on Thursday night (27) with the second runner-up of the year, this time of the South American Recopa-from the champions of the Libertadores and South American Cups-with the alvinegro succumbing to Argentina racing.
After losing the departure 2-0 at the opponent’s house, Botafogo lost by the same score playing at Nilton Santos, without showing forces to react to more than 30,000 fans.
Without a coach since early January, after the Portuguese Artur Jorge was heading for Qatar’s Al-Rayyan, Botafogo made his debut in 2025 already with a painful defeat in the state.
With the reservations on the field, he lost 2-1 at home to Maricá, who made the first match of his history in the carioca elite. The Brazilian champion acted with one more player since the 10 minutes of the first half.
In the first trophy in dispute in the year, in February, not only lost Brazil’s super crop, but saw rival Flamengo be dominant in most of the match, in the inspired afternoon of striker Bruno Henrique.
To complete, in Carioca, the team did not even advance to the final phase. In 11 games, they lost six, tied one and won only four, ending 9th in the standings, with no vacancy for the Rio Cup.
It weighed for bad performance the departure of important players last season, such as midfielder Thiago Almada and striker Luiz Henrique. One of the main signings for the year so far, striker Arthur, former Zenit and Palmeiras, was injured in his second match wearing Botafogo’s shirt and could do little to help his companions.
While following the serial defeats, club CEO John Texor failed in an attempt to find a new coach. Tite, André Jardine, Roberto Mancini, Tata Martino, Rafa Benítez and Vasco Matos were tempted, without advance with any.
Difficult to attract trendy names, the departure was to close on Thursday with the Portuguese Renato Paiva, who led Bahia in 2023 and was until December at Toluca, Mexico.
The club had been directed for almost two months by interim technicians, with Claudio Caçapa at the head of the team since mid -February, after the departure of Carlos Leiria caused by the lack of results.
One of the cast leaders, defender Barboza even complained about planning to the team.
“Today’s coach [Caçapa] There were only three workouts with us. He is an interim coach, we do not know if he will be all year round. The players also changed. 16 players came out, gradually the reinforcements arrive. Many still cannot play, it takes time. Time is short, it gets in the way, “said the defender after the defeat to Racing in Argentina.
“It’s hard for things to work out like that,” added the player, who later apologized to the club for the “Hot Head” statements.
Textor had already stated that he was not in a hurry to hire technician and reinforcements for the cast. According to Cartola, the season is valid for Botafogo, in fact, only with the beginning of the Brazilian and Libertadores.
“We have resources to make a good year. But [os jogadores] They will not arrive on the same day together. We will hire players until the beginning of our season in April, “he said in late January.
Some of the new names announced for the season are from midfielder Wendel, who only arrives in June, after ending his participation with Zenit in the Russian Championship, and midfielder Santiago Rodríguez, who signed a week with Botafogo coming from New York City and has not debuted yet.
The transfer window for the arrival of reinforcements closes this Friday, leaving the team now only the option to hire free players in the market.
The club will also have two windows to reinforce the cast for the Brazilian and the World Cup. The first, between March 10 and April 11, for players who have played state teams without calendar in the second half. And the second, between June 2 and 10, aiming to participate in the first expanded edition of the FIFA World Cup – although teams that will not participate in the competition can also hire.
With early elimination in the state, Botafogo will now have a month without official matches. The next commitment is only on March 29, when debut in the Brazilian Championship against Palmeiras, away from home.
In June, the team departs for the United States for the Club World Cup dispute, where it faces in the PSG group stage (Paris Saint-Germain), Atletico Madrid and Seattle Sounders.
