Botafogo 1 Atlético-PR 1

It was one of those nights when the occasion was greater than the event. Botafogo were celebrating their centenary in style. There had been book launches, commemorative medals, limited edition football tops and a special Corcovado day. Tonight was their anniversary and they welcomed Atlético-PR to join them in the party. It should have been a exhibition match demonstrating all that is good about the game. Sadly, in reality it was a league game Fogo couldn’t afford to lose. A win tonight would take them out of the relegation places but how many weeks have we said that. Atlético, for their part, are climbing the table and would be in no mood to bring a gift of three points to the party.

It was also special as my daughter, Emma was making her first, and probably only visit to Caio Martins. She had adopted Botafogo as her team of choice within a day of arriving in Rio despite having witnessed them in the awful display against Flamengo the previous week at the Maracana.

Before kick off there was fireworks, ticker tape and special guests of ex players, including Nilton Santos. Unfortunately, due to some dodgy navigation of the streets of Niteroi, I managed to circumnavigate the stadium several times before realising I had arrived. As we approached the ground we could see the tape and fireworks above the terraces. Right on kick off, while we were still outside the ground, the heavens opened and a mighty tropical downpour fell on the proceedings. It was as if God had decided to put a damper on the party and make sure Fogo had their minds on the game and not history.

The game was a few minutes old by the time we were inside. Fogo were missing their holy trinity of Ruy, Luizao and Estevez through injury and suspension. Scheidt was missing from the defence and Schwenk was leading the attack so things didn’t look too promising. Atlético were playing some neat football and had the impressive Washington leading their attack. He stood out, not only as he appeared to be a foot taller than everyone else on the pitch, but also as he looked a threat everytime he got the ball. He was quick and skillful on the ground and good in the air. He looked they type of player most English clubs would fall over themselves to snap up. If only Derby had some money!

It came as no surprise when Washington put Atlético ahead. He broke from deep with pace. Jefferson was left exposed by his defence but he came a long way out of his box and forced Washington wide on the left. Washington was happy to go wide and turned and clipped a lovely shot into the unprotected net.  This seemed to pop the party balloons in the Fogo player’s heads and they started to push forward without creating many chances.

The second half started with a different view thanks to Fiona Maughan. She invited us to join the prawn sandwich brigade in the “executive boxes”. Sadly no prawn sandwiches were available but it did offer a different view of the game. Fogo had decided they had a contest on their hands and started to play some lovely football. Valdo and Carlos Alberto, thankful recovered from his previous nightmare games, dominated the midfield and the young Elvis showed some nice touches. The threat from Washington was always present but only one team looked like scoring. As it turned out when the goal arrived it came in an unlikely manner. The Atlético defence, which had looked so composed previously, decided to play pinball among them selves and the ball shot around the penalty area before falling to the feet of Schwenk, who happily accepted the gift and smashed the ball into the net from close range. A look of relief covered his face as it was his first goal at Caio Martins. He raced over to the perimeter fence and climbed half way up wildly punching the air towards Nilton Santos who was sitting in another box just down from us. If only Schwenk had put the same effort as his celebrations into his previous performances.

Fogo continued to press forward but the Atlético defence wasn’t going to be so generous a second time and the game ended 1-1.

Again Fogo failed to take advantage and pull them selves out of the bottom spots. Tonight’s game also marked the last game of the 1st Turno. Half way through the season and still in trouble.

Down in the Wall of Fame area, fans were approaching someone I didn’t recognise and getting autographs and photos. I decided to join in and get a photo with him. It turned out to be Wilson Gottardo who played in the national championship-winning side of 1995.

We then spotted Nilton Santos signing autographs so we decided to enter stalker fan mode. Nilton turned out to be a nice guy and happily signed shirts for both Emma and myself and posed for photos. He then joined a group of us at the Wall of Fame for a photo along with the omnipresent Botafogo clown who seemed to manage to get in every picture taken. The Brazilian television media were interested in a strange group of Brits supporting Botafogo. They interviewed Lesley Bennett on the subject then filmed us miming along to a club song that only the Fogo clown seemed to know. By this time some players were emerging from the changing rooms. Elvis, who caught my daughter’s eye, and then Valdo, who appealed to the older women present (sorry Fiona and Lesley!) both signed autographs and posed for photos. Valdo in particular came across as a gentleman and was happy to spend as long as it took to get all photos done.

And that was it. As I said, the occasion surpassed the event but it was a memorable night. However, it looks as though there could be many less memorable nights ahead.