Opinion – Tostão: Beautiful football moves have to do with the desire that comes before the thought

In the elimination of Fluminense in Libertadores, for Olimpia, from Paraguay, the size of the pitch seemed much bigger than the maximum allowed. The spaces were huge for both teams, an affront to modern football, as if it were an official soccer game.

Fluminense did not score with eight or nine players close to the area to counterattack, as América successfully did against Barcelona de Guayaquil, nor did they press to try to recover the ball before the goal. It was neither active nor reactive.

Fluminense played with three defenders, with Felipe Melo, inside the area, marking goalkeeper Fábio, two wingers leaning against the side, three in front and only two players in the midfield, to fill a large space. There was no approach of the athletes. The team easily lost the ball.

The mistakes are made by the coach and the players, scared, paralyzed by the Paraguayan pressure, but no disappointment justifies the violence of Fluminense fans.

In the classic between Palmeiras and Corinthians, the size of the lawn seemed small, due to the pressure to recover the ball, especially made by Palmeiras. Abel Ferreira and the players did not let Corinthians have the ball, as Vítor Pereira had planned. The midfielder Danilo marked Renato Augusto closely, from one area to the other. Palmeiras’ marking was individual, but respecting the sectors.

I really like the strategies, but what I love the most are the beautiful, unpredictable moves, like the pass given by Renato Augusto, over the defender, to Fagner, who missed the goal, the only time Danilo left Renato Augusto alone .

But the most beautiful move of the week was that of young midfielder Pedri, from Barcelona, ​​in the victory over Galatasaray, when, without touching the ball, he dribbled a defender, then another, leaving both on the ground, to touch the corner. Coach Xavi smiled. He must have remembered his fellow Iniesta.

The Ukrainian Clarice Lispector, a star of literature, was obsessed with what was before thought, before words. She said: “Writing is the way of one who has the word as bait: the word fishing for what is not a word. When this non-word – between the lines – takes the bait, something has been written.”

Improvisation and the execution of beautiful football moves have to do with the desire that comes before the thought. The ace, in a fraction of a second, doesn’t think, he does. Freud would say that it is an unconscious, pre-conscious knowledge. He knows, but he doesn’t know that he knows.

The master, journalist Armando Nogueira, used to say that these spectacular moves occur through a spinal reflex, without passing through the brain, through consciousness. Today’s neurologists say it’s a spatial, kinesthetic intelligence. The superstars, without thinking, perceive everything around them and calculate the speed of the ball, teammates and opponents.

The poet Fernando Pessoa would say that many things have no explanation, they have existence. The ace is.

Champions League

Of the eight teams qualified for the quarterfinals, only Benfica and Villarreal are not among the title contenders. In knockout games, there can be surprises. Atlético de Madrid doesn’t have the shine of the most celebrated, but they know how to play defense and counterattack. Manchester United’s elimination by Atletico Madrid came as no surprise.

Tribute

Congratulations to Formiga, great player of the Brazilian team, present in seven World Cups, immortalized on the Mineirão Walk of Fame. I’m glad to be by her side.