Professional career started at Atlético Paranaense, professional career ended at Athletico Paranaense – the same team, just with a change in spelling. Fernandinho, 40, one of the best midfielders (scorer and supporter) in football for two decades, retired last week.
Playing for Atlético/Athletico, Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Manchester City (England) and the Brazilian national team, he won more than 30 titles.
A successful career, which makes him considered an idol by fans of the three teams. In English, for which he won five national championships (Premier League), he is considered a legend, being Pep Guardiola’s trusted man for years.
For me, as I am not a fan of any of the teams mentioned, Fernandinho brings back very bad memories related to the Brazilian team.
He may even have had a majority of good performances in the 53 games with the senior team, but the memory will always be of two of them, in which he went from bad to worse.
The bad, in the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil, in the semi-final at Mineirão that ended up becoming Mineiraço, in allusion to the 1950 Maracanazo (defeat in the decision to Uruguay).
In the 7-1 victory against Germany, the greatest humiliation in the history of the Brazilian team, the Germans failed in general to score and specifically in the fourth goal, when they lost the ball. A 3-0 could be reversible (Palmeiras in 2025 says so). Four goals behind? Not even the most optimistic believe it.
Felipão, already 5-0 down, brought on Fernandinho at half-time. In the second half, Germany scored “only” two goals.
The worst, four years later, in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Russia. Belgium had a very good team (called the “golden generation”, even without a single gold medal), but Brazil was doing very well, with confidence and great results accumulated in the Tite era, which started in 2016.
In a game of similar forces, getting ahead is an advantage, not only numerically, but psychologically.
And Belgium came out ahead. With whose goal? From Fernandinho. After a corner, he, who was a substitute and replacing the suspended Casemiro, tried to take the ball out of the area and deflected it into the goal defended by Alisson.
After that, the Belgians knew how to defend themselves and counterattack, extending the lead to 2-0 and managing to prevent the Brazilians from scoring more than one goal.
Calling Fernadinho a villain for these performances may sound exaggerated, since football is a collective game and, theoretically, everyone wins and everyone loses, together. However, in practice, some lose more than others. They are marked.
Think about the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar. What do you remember about the quarter-final against Croatia? Me, from Fred. More than whoever made the mistake in the penalty shootout (Rodrygo and Marquinhos), I blame the midfielder, who came in to defend and launched the attack, losing the fight for the ball that resulted in the Europeans’ equalizing goal in extra time.
Think about the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa. Also in the quarterfinals, Felipe Melo, after heading a ball sent into the area by Sneijder into the Brazilian goal, was sent off after stepping on Robben. The Netherlands turned it around, 2-1. If anyone was decisive in the result, we know who.
Football chooses culprits. Roberto Carlos (fixing a midfielder) in the 2006 World Cup. Zico (missed penalty) in the 1986 World Cup. Cerezo (wrong pass) in the 1982 World Cup.
In Brazil, since Barbosa, the goalkeeper who failed in 1950, it’s been like this. It’s everyone’s fault. Fernandinho, unfortunately, also has his own.
LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.
