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Text by Rica Perrone

It was written before the FLAMENGO win the Hexacampeonato.

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There are certain things in life that we can't explain, we can simply just feel.

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"Every Brazilian, living or dead, has been a Flamengo fan for a moment, for a day," said Nelson Rodrigues, a fanatical Tricolor fan devoid of club-related vanity when analyzing football.

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Today, October 28th, is Flamengo fan day. Today, October 28th, 2009, is the day Flamengo can become the leader of the Brazilian championship. Today, like almost every Wednesday, it is the day for 35 million people to live for a single goal and another 150 million to root against it.

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Tomorrow, as always, leader or out of the fight, the front page of the newspapers will feature Flamengo.

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Deciding the title, there will be thousands of fans in another state, making Flamengo play at home when it should be playing away.

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On Saturday, where everyone is fighting for the lead, there he will be again, playing with 12 men, breaking the basic rules of football.

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And if the team fails and loses the title again, nothing will change. They'll revolt, curse, protest, and in three months, there they'll be swearing their love for the team in some classic match for the state championship, the one that not even they can stand to win anymore.

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The most inexplicable team on planet Earth, without a doubt.

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They haven't won the main national title since 1992. More than 17 years have passed, and the fan base is decreasing? No, it's increasing. According to research, it's the largest among children in the country.

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When no one gives them anything, they arrive and surprise everyone. When everyone expects too much, they lose and disappoint their nation.

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Favorite in everything he competes in, simply because of the above. No one can know what to expect from Flamengo, ever.

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And when there isn't a team capable of being champions, the pressure is as if there were. In other words, there aren't any players at Flamengo. Flamengo exists, period.

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The only fan base on the planet that pays for two shows. One on the field, like all of them, and another that it puts on itself.

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Flamengo fans go to Maracanã to enjoy the team, the game, the atmosphere, and the fans themselves. It's unique.

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Perhaps one of the rare fan bases in the world that has dozens of idols, but there is no discussion about the greatest.

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There's Zico and the rest. And the "rest" includes, perhaps, the two best full-backs the world has ever seen in color: Leandro and Junior.

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The red-black nation isn't called that for nothing. There are 35 million fans, and let's see:

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The most populous city in the world is Tokyo, with 34 million people.

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The largest in Brazil is São Paulo, with 19.

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Flamengo alone has 35. If it charged taxes it would be trillions.

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He doesn't charge, and he's always in debt.

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He owes millions, and that doesn't make any difference.

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Unlike the love we so extol, this one doesn't go away when the loved one becomes poor. It's true love, the purest that exists.

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Unconditional, yes.

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He who does not analyze, who does not reason, who does not condition anything.

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The nation could say, without guilt: "I love you, and that's it."

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It doesn't matter why, how, when or under what conditions.\

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It's bigger, it's inexplicable.

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Being a Flamengo fan is something that\t has no comparison. I wasn't born that way, and I don't even dare say whether it was fortunately or unfortunately.

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Flamengo fan is someone who loves football more than what it provides. Someone who doesn't exchange love for results, and who doesn't base their preference on one player or another.

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There is Pelé's Santos, Rogério Ceni's São Paulo, and Ademir's Palmeiras.

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There is Zico from Flamengo there.

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The order is always reversed. The values ​​are always different.

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Being a Flamengo fan doesn't make anyone better than others, nor worse. Different, without a doubt.

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Being a majority is something that strengthens. It is infinite, because the nation has no end, and it will not stop being the country's biggest fan base in the next 200 years.\

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Hating Flamengo is absolutely justifiable.

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Anyone gets annoyed at winning titles and more titles and seeing that the newspaper's cover doesn't change its picture. It's always Flamengo's.

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Anyone would be bothered to know that titles and minor debts cannot override the importance of a club whose greatness is based on nothing current or concrete.

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It's big. Why? Because it is.

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Can there be something greater than what cannot be explained?

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Entering a packed Maracanã and looking at those fans is something that only they know what it is, what it means and how much it matters.

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"Fans don't win games", they say.

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"Only if it's yours," they'll say.

Today is Flamengo fan's day.

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Aren't you a Flamengo fan?

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What a pity.

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abs,

Rica Perrone

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