2014 World Cup - Day 17 - Fluminense

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My main goal today was to visit my favorite soccer club, Fluminense. I had been there before, way back in 2001, but they recently renovated the trophy room and happened to have won 2 national titles since then, so a new visit was warranted.

Fluminense is an important club in Brazilian soccer history, and has a huge following. It is at this club that the Brazilian National Team played its first game. The club itself is over 100 years old. My dad and uncles are all Fluminense fans, it is all I know. When I was 8 years old, back in 1984, Fluminense won the national title. I remember that time vividly watching soccer with my dad while eating popcorn and drinking coke. Sundays afternoons were a lot of fun.

In 1984, our team was lead by 3 key players: Romerito, Washington and Assis. The latter two were our forwards and played really well together. When we think about Fluminense in the 80’s, we think Washington and Assis. Over the years, Washington’s health deteriorated, and he recently passed away. Assis had been going strong still working for the club and making appearances. When I entered the museum today, the first mural pays tribute to them together. One does not exist without the other. I took a photo of the two, read some of their stats and moved to the next mural. Behind me, a mother and son was preparing to take the same photo, when the son said “yeah mom, both of them are dead”. I turned around and said “no, only Washington”, to which the mom said “no, Assis died this morning”. Within 40 days or so of each other, Washington and Assis have passed away. Outside, I later found roses by their plaques. Their plaques, much like on the field and in life, side by side. One does not go without the other. Strange.

The museum’s main attraction is the trophy room. Up until recently, not much happened trophy-wise since 1984 that is worth nothing other than a few Rio de Janeiro State championships. We went over 20 years without really doing anything at the national level. Things changed in 2010 when we won our first national title since 1984. I remember watching that game at my dad’s place, and we celebrated when Fred scored the winner. I thought I’d have to wait another 26 years for the next one, but 2 years later, another one followed. So since my last visit to the museum, these 2 trophies were front and centre.

The museum also has a section that pays tribute to current National Team players playing the World Cup for Brazil that were developed at the club: Brazil’s captain Thiago Silva, Marcelo, and Fred. Hopefully we’ll get to see Thiago lift the trophy next Sunday.

After visiting the museum, I walked around the club a bit and visited the stadium. The club’s headquarters is attached to the original stadium. This stadium is currently used as the training facility for the 1^st Team and hosts games for all other levels (juniors, under-20, youth, etc...). I was always told my grandfather Helio played soccer for Fluminense, but we don’t quite have any real information as to when, how long, etc.. I tried once to get some information from the club but the person that could have helped me suffered a heart attack that week. Such was my luck, but I will try again soon. In any case, I never met this grandfather as he passed away before I was born, so when I look at the field at Laranjeiras, I always wonder if he ever ran around out there wearing a striped green & burgundy Fluminense jersey.

As our visit was winding down, we took a break to get a drink and caught the final set of the Wimbledon Final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. I’m a big fan of Roger’s and was hoping for an 18^th Grand Slam title, but a minor slip afforded Djoko the break and he closed it out soon after. So close. Not sure how many more chances Roger will have.

Before leaving the club, I visited the Fluminense Boutique so I could Owen a kit and Janel a jersey, but they didn’t have what I wanted much to my surprise. I’ll have to look elsewhere, but whatever it takes to raise Owen the right way. haha

At night, I visited the FIFA store in Copacabana to get some souvenirs. The store is set up right beside the Fan Fest right on the sand. I grabbed a few shirts and some other things and headed back to the apartment. Once I got there, I realized an issue with one of the items, so I walked back to the store for an exchange. On my way back to the apartment, I noticed a beach soccer game going on in front of Bruno’s apartment. I hesitated for bit but couldn’t pass this opportunity up. I played for about 30 minutes and it was tons of fun. I was on a team with a few Chinese fellows and one Brazilian playing against an all-French team. I scored 5 goals and added a few assists as our team steamrolled the French. If I lived in Rio, this is what I would do in the evenings. The temperature was still fairly high at 22C when we played, and it must have been 9:30pm. I got back to the apartment all sweaty and with sand all over, but it was worth it. I had been meaning to play but hadn’t found the time up to this point, so I was happy I finally got the chance.



Tomorrow is a travel day for me as I’m heading to Belo Horizonte to watch Brazil play Germany in the first semi-final of the World Cup the following day. This game, needless to say, is HUGE, and I can hardly wait to hear the National Anthem in person.

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Photos

Assis & Washington, our heroes from back in the day (1984)
Assis, on the left, passed away today. I learned of his death right after taking this photo.