Rodinei wins duel with Cássio and becomes hero after years of criticism

Rodinei was not on the last squad of the Brazilian team, but the coach of the Brazilian team included him in a list of players who have been observed. The phrase was already the result of a season of redemption for the 30-year-old right-back, treated with derision by Flamengo fans themselves at other times.

The change in direction reached “another level”, to stay in an expression often used by the red-blacks. The player was responsible for the penalty kick that decided the Copa do Brasil, on Wednesday night (19), at Maracanã. He hit the right corner of goalkeeper Cássio, from Corinthians, and defined the 6-5 after a 1-1 draw in the 90 minutes.

“We think that this walk to the ball is easy,” he said, referring to the path to the penalty mark. “And we’re talking about Cássio, one of the greatest goalkeepers in Brazil. But God said: ‘Go there, my son, and decide for this nation’. When I scored, I didn’t even know what to do.

Formed in the basic categories of Corinthians, where he had no space, Rodinei knows the archer and the opponent he faced. In the white-and-white association he was also jokingly treated as “Bom de Bola”, since he went up to the first training sessions in professional training saying that he was “good with the ball”.

He arrived at Flamengo in 2016, after having gone through smaller teams and having a good participation in Ponte Preta. He took a while to establish himself, in a club that was going through a difficult period, and, criticized by the fans, he was loaned to Internacional.

At Internacional, in 2020, new difficult episode. The Colorado club, which was fighting for the title of the Brazilian Championship with Flamengo, decided to pay the Rio club a fine of R$ 1 million to have the full-back on the field in the direct confrontation. Rodinei was sent off, and the Rio de Janeiro team won on their way to the trophy.

The paulista from Tatuí returned, however, in a moment of lack in the position, and ended up gaining space. Dorival Júnior also used Matheuzinho on the right side this year, but, at the time of decisions, he said he had rewarded the effort of the one who would be a hero.

“I believe a lot in work. What I lived at this club… Seven years, it wasn’t easy. A lot of mistrust, a lot of criticism. But I knew how to take it very naturally. It’s not easy for a player to stay at a club all this time. Now, like I said, it’s celebrating.”