This Wednesday, the expectation is 13 thousand red-blacks at Mangueirão

Eduardo Peixoto Direct from Belém

GloboEsporte.com

The flight time between Rio de Janeiro and Belém is no more than 3 hours and 10 minutes. Even so, some consider the trip Flamengo made this week to face Remo quite tiring. What can we say about the first time the Rio de Janeiro club crossed the country to reach the capital of Pará, in 1916?

"It was a 30-day trip by ship. The distance was enormous," said Luís Fernando Pessoa, head of the Flamengo delegation in Belém.

In 1916, Flamengo toured Belém and played four games, winning three and drawing one. Against Remo, the victory was a hard-fought 3-2. According to Luís Fernando, the increase in Flamengo's fan base, however, occurred later.

"The radio antennas were very powerful and carried crystal-clear sound here. Flamengo has the largest fan base in the state," Luís assured.

This Wednesday, the expectation is that there will be 13 thousand Flamengo fans at Mangueirão – almost 40 thousand tickets were sold.

"We bought four thousand white balloons, lasers... we spent over R$2.500 to plan this party. Anything goes for Mengão," said Leonardo Lobato, one of the leaders of the Flamengo fan club in Belém.

GLOBOESPORTE.COM will be covering the match live from 21:50 p.m., with videos. TV and Rádio Globo will also be broadcasting.