In a ceremony full of humor and jokes, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received Flamengo officials and players on Monday afternoon. Adriano, who had been missing since the match that secured the team's sixth championship title, arrived late and without a suit, but participated in the tribute and was the target of several jokes from the president.

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Lula received several gifts from the Flamengo delegation during the ceremony, held at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center. Andrade presented him with a miniature replica of the trophy Flamengo lifted at the Maracanã stadium after its victory over Grêmio. Márcio Braga presented the president with a championship sash. Adriano gave Lula an official jersey with the number 13 and the name "Lula" on the back. And Ronaldo Angelim gave him a commemorative "Hexa na Raça" jersey with the number 6 and the name "Lula" on the back.

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Flamengo fans asked, but Lula refused to wear the jersey. He simply posed for photos holding it.

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- I'm going to keep the photo of the Vasco president holding the Flamengo shirt in my office - joked Marcio Braga.

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According to defender Ronaldo Angelim, it wasn't for lack of insistence that the president stopped wearing the red and black shirt.

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"We gave him the shirt, but he's a Corinthians fan and didn't want to wear it. We put pressure on him, but it didn't work," said the scorer of the sixth-place goal.

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Besides Angelim and Adriano, Welinton and Lennon were there. Lula was amazed by the Emperor's height, whom he sometimes called "my top scorer."

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"Don't stand next to me much. You're too tall. I'll look too short in the photos," he said.

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Lula also sent a message to the Emperor, implying that he would like to see him on the Brazilian team that will compete in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

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- Take care. I want to see you in June - he said.

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The president joked about the number of photographers who attended the event. About 200 fans watched from the sidelines.

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- Just because it's Flamengo, there are a lot of sycophants here.

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Afterwards, Lula congratulated Patrícia Amorim on her victory in the election for president of Flamengo.

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 - It's good to have women in power - he said.

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Andrade celebrated - Coach Andrade, even more celebrated, had a hard time disembarking. Surrounded by fans, his name shouted loudly and trying to respond to hundreds of requests for autographs and photos, the team manager took a while to reach the bus. President Patrícia Amorim was also heavily sought after and, surrounded by fans, needed the help of supervisor Isaías Tinoco to leave the lobby and join the rest of the delegation.

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Players, coaching staff, and board took off on a regular flight at 10:05 a.m. (Brasília time). Upon arrival in Brasília, around noon, they already sensed the party that awaited them. In a still-secluded area of ​​the airport, several airline and Infraero employees were asking to take photos. From inside, chants of "Andrade is sinister" and other chants from the fans could already be heard in the lobby.