They wanted to make a statement for the fans and mark their territory, but what was supposed to earn major respect points ended up backfiring from all sides.
American football fans are well familiar with teams entering the field running with their team's flag:
In soccer, however, the tradition is rather different. With a concept of family and a lot less showmanship, players in Brazil usually enter the field with young fans, making some of their dreams come true, even if only for a few minutes.
And yet one Brazilian club tried to leave this tradition behind and make an NFL-like entrance in their latest match. The result wasn’t what they expected. Check out the video of the entry:
Flamengo's first and biggest mistake is what they did with the children they usually walk out with, or rather, what they didn’t do with the children.
This match was played in Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon forest. These aren’t people who are used to watching their favorite clubs play live. This might’ve been the only chance some of those kids will ever have to see their heroes from up close, and they ended up being left behind as their team ran out with a flag, and had to watch as the kids on the other side walked into the field with their Vasco da Gama heroes.
“The kid is there, his dream is to hold hands with a player. I don’t know who made this decision, but it was pathetic,” former Benfica player and Brazilian international Roger Flores said.
Some, like journalist Andre Loffredo, even said that Flamengo should pay a fine for their disrespect. “It is a disrespect for the competition, its rules, and the opponents. Whoever made this decision cannot continue working in Flamengo. He made Flamengo embarrass itself.”
Ultimately even some parents showed they were upset. “There was a lack of humility, a lack of respect, consideration and, especially, empathy from the players,” Daniel Lima, father of one of the children, told Globo. “My son is eight-years-old, and he loves Flamengo. He was there, in a rare opportunity, realizing his dream. At the time, he didn’t really understand what was happening. And then, he watched the rest of the game extremely frustrated. He’s just a kid. He didn’t deserve this.”
Fort Lauderdale Strikers’ player and former Flamengo captain, Leo Moura also chimed in on the subject, hinting that perhaps a change of captains might be something to be considered as the current captain, Wallace, was the one leading the players off the tunnel.
And if the embarrassment of their entrance wasn’t enough, Flamengo ended up losing the game 2-0 and getting knocked out of the Rio de Janeiro State Championship.
