This Saturday (01.03), former Flamengo stars and true assets of the club, Esquerdinha and Índio celebrate another spring. William Kepler Santa Rosa, known as Esquerdinha, turns 90, making him the second oldest former player of the club, behind Fernandinho, who will turn 101 this Sunday (02.03). Índio is the third oldest, at 83. Both played together for the Mais Querido, between 1949 and 1955, winning the 1953-54-55 Carioca Championship. Furthermore, the two were almost like brothers, and their families remain friends to this day. Esquerdinha and Índio also won, together, as starters, Flamengo's first major title at Maracanã: the 1953 Carioca Championship.

 

Esquerdinha earned his nickname for his main characteristic: his powerful left-footed shot. With 110 goals in 277 games, the Pará native is the 16th-highest scorer in Flamengo's history. Born in Belém, the striker began playing soccer in 1941, already in Rio de Janeiro. That same year, he joined the Madureira team, whose youth team began to enjoy great success, leading to his promotion to the youth team. Continuing his impressive growth, the youngster finally reached the Tricolor Suburbano's professional squad in 1946. He stayed with Madureira until 1948, and from there moved to Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. He spent a short time at Gávea, playing only in one international tournament in Chile, and from there, he returned to Madureira, subsequently moving to Olaria. However, in 1949, there was no way out. Esquerdinha permanently joined Flamengo, where he became an idol. He was a leader on the field during his time playing for Flamengo, in 1948 and from 1949 to 1955, with Zagallo as his reserve from 1951 to 1953. Esquerdinha also scored Flamengo's first goal in Europe, in a 1-0 victory over Malmö, from Sweden, on May 16, 1951. On that tour, Esquerdinha scored seven goals; the Mais Querido played 10 matches, winning them all.

 

Aluísio Francisco da Luz, known as Índio, has 140 goals in 217 matches for the Manto Sagrado, ranking as the club's 10th-highest scorer. Many of his goals were decisive, and four of them were in the biggest rout ever at Maracanã: Flamengo defeated São Cristóvão 12-2 in the 1956 Rio de Janeiro State Championship. The striker was the team's top scorer in 1953, with 41 goals, and in 1956, with 31 goals. Born on March 1, 1931, in Cabedelo, Paraíba, Índio played for Flamengo from 1949 to 1957. In the 1954 state championship campaign, he was the team's top scorer with 18 goals, the same year he played for the Brazilian national team in the World Cup. Counting all the three-time championship titles, he was also the top scorer, with 48 goals. Scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Vasco da Gama on September 16, 1951, he was one of the players responsible for ending the longest winning streak against their rival: six years. The last one had been on October 29, 1944, when Valido scored the winning goal for the first three-time state championship. Playing for the "Amarelinha" (Sports), his most important goal came against Peru in the 1958 World Cup qualifiers, in a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Lima. In the return leg, Brazil won 1-0, with a goal by Didi, qualifying the Brazilian team for the World Cup in Sweden, where the team won its first world title.