Flamengo fans: "Welcome, R10"
Passionate about the club, fans arrive seven hours before the game to "prepare for the party"
By Thiago Barros - From the official website team - in
Each of the more than 37 Flamengo fans who will be present at Engenhão on Wednesday night (February 02.02nd), for the match against Nova Iguaçu, will, in their own way, greet the star Ronaldinho Gaúcho, who will be making his debut. And a good portion of these fans will be able to participate in what is perhaps the greatest tribute that will be paid to the new number 10: a mosaic with the words "Welcome, R10".
But to have everything ready for the match, about 50 members of Flamengo's Urubuzada fan group arrived at the stadium seven hours early. They began placing the 18 "plaques," or leaflets, that will form the mosaic. But a lot of work has already been done to complete the "work of art."
The creators of the mosaic spent the week analyzing the upper and lower east sectors of the Engenhão stadium so that the tiles could be placed. After that, it was time to get to work. Between shouts of "Let's go!" and "Come on, it has to be quick!", everything is coming together.
"It's a real marathon what we're doing here at Engenhão. There are 50 people, all volunteers, to position 18 billboards throughout the east sector. We requested authorization from Botafogo, which manages the stadium, and they let us in after 3 pm. Everything will be ready by 15 pm. We stayed up all night looking at the 19D project of the stadium and counted all the seats, one by one, to position the billboards correctly. It's voluntary work, but it's serious business (laughs)," said physical education teacher Michel Tavares, one of the 'marathon runners' from Urubuzada, who is organizing the installation.
Regarding the star player, fans share a common admiration and disbelief that they will ever see him wearing the sacred jersey.
"Ronaldinho has already been elected the best in the world twice and now he will play for Flamengo. It's hard to even believe it's happening. I think it will only really sink in when he steps onto the field, scores goals and makes those plays that we all know. He's a player worthy of Flamengo," he concluded.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2011, Urubuzada (Flamengo's organized supporters group) started a trend in stadiums with its red-and-black mosaics. There have been tributes to the 1987 title, a flag with the rowing club's crest that changed color from red and black to green and yellow, a tribute to Adriano's debut, the word "Mengo" being formed, and now it's Ronaldinho's turn to receive the tribute.
But to have everything ready for the match, about 50 members of Flamengo's Urubuzada fan group arrived at the stadium seven hours early. They began placing the 18 "plaques," or leaflets, that will form the mosaic. But a lot of work has already been done to complete the "work of art."
The creators of the mosaic spent the week analyzing the upper and lower east sectors of the Engenhão stadium so that the tiles could be placed. After that, it was time to get to work. Between shouts of "Let's go!" and "Come on, it has to be quick!", everything is coming together.
"It's a real marathon what we're doing here at Engenhão. There are 50 people, all volunteers, to position 18 billboards throughout the east sector. We requested authorization from Botafogo, which manages the stadium, and they let us in after 3 pm. Everything will be ready by 15 pm. We stayed up all night looking at the 19D project of the stadium and counted all the seats, one by one, to position the billboards correctly. It's voluntary work, but it's serious business (laughs)," said physical education teacher Michel Tavares, one of the 'marathon runners' from Urubuzada, who is organizing the installation.
Regarding the star player, fans share a common admiration and disbelief that they will ever see him wearing the sacred jersey.
"Ronaldinho has already been elected the best in the world twice and now he will play for Flamengo. It's hard to even believe it's happening. I think it will only really sink in when he steps onto the field, scores goals and makes those plays that we all know. He's a player worthy of Flamengo," he concluded.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2011, Urubuzada (Flamengo's organized supporters group) started a trend in stadiums with its red-and-black mosaics. There have been tributes to the 1987 title, a flag with the rowing club's crest that changed color from red and black to green and yellow, a tribute to Adriano's debut, the word "Mengo" being formed, and now it's Ronaldinho's turn to receive the tribute.