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“What is the best league in the world?”. That’s the big question on the minds of all fans, generation after generation. Thousands of data are used to try to answer in the most objective way possible one of the great questions in the history of football. But you can’t. The greatness of this sport means that any domestic competition has its own charm, its own story. In Europe, the debate revolves around the four major leagues, while in South America there are two local tournaments that dominate the continent with an iron fist, the Argentine Professional League, which has 25 Libertadores, and the Brazilianwhich totals 24. However, the variety of champions in the Brazilian league is exceptional, since twelve different clubs have won the highest continental competition, compared to the eight that there are in Argentina.
The latest to join this prestigious list has been Botafogo, who, not satisfied with this feat, have also won the league title. His path to achieving Eternal Glory for the first time in his history began very early, in the previous round. In the first round they beat Águilas Doradas (Colombia) on penalties, and in the second they got rid of Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil). In his group, made up of Junior (Colombia), Liga de Quito (Ecuador) and Universitario de Deportes (Peru), the ‘Kitchen’ They did not exhibit the power that was assumed, despite the fact that they were the favorites to command the classification. Artur Jorge’s men finished second, behind the Colombian team, which led to a fierce duel in the round of 16 against Palmeiras, who were the current champions of the Brazilianand one of the favorites for the title. However, the Botafoguense team won 4-3 in one of the best ties of the tournament. Another Brazilian club was waiting in the quarterfinals, another with a liberators in his record, São Paulo. The ‘Lone Star’ managed to win from eleven meters to sneak into the semifinals, equaling the best record in its history, which dated back to 1963, with Garrincha as a reference. That legendary team fell to Pelé’s Santos, who were champions of that edition. However, on this occasion, Botafogo broke its glass ceiling thanks to a memorable first leg, in which it destroyed Peñarol 5-0 at home.
In three years, Botafogo has gone from the hell of Series B to a film doublet. He ‘Kitchen’ rose from the ashes to be crowned king of America for the first time
In the final everything went wrong too soon. Gregore, after 30 seconds, was sent off after stabbing a soccer player in the head with his studs. Atlético Mineiro. However, when the game was going uphill, the MVP of the tournament, Luiz Henrique, appeared. The former Betis footballer scored the first goal of the match in the 35th minute and caused the second penalty, which Álex Telles converted in the 44th minute. Even so, the ‘get into’Spurred on after passing through the locker room, he reconnected to the match. From a corner kick, Eduardo Vargas, in the 47th minute, headed into the back of the net to the torment of the ‘Lone Star’, who, with one less, dedicated himself to bailing out water and killing the duel in a counterattack that took a while. reach until the 97th minute, when Júnior Santos forever recorded the name of Botafogo in the Cup.
A week later, the ‘Kitchen’ won the third league in its history, 29 years after the last. With three games remaining, the Botafoguense team and Palmeiras were tied on points and faced each other at the stadium of the ‘True’. Artur Jorge’s team had the Libertadores final just around the corner, but the Portuguese coach came out with everything and stormed the Allianz Parque. The ‘Lone Star’ won 1-3, a result that left the league on track. Even so, they were proclaimed champions on the last date, in the 2-1 victory against São Paulo. The winning goal was from Gregore, sent off a week earlier and who made up for it in front of his team to place Botafogo on the exclusive list of Brazilian clubs that have achieved the double in the same season, where only Santos are, in 1962 and 1963, and Flamengo, in 2019.
In 2023, Botafogo was the leader of the Brazilian with a 13-point advantage, but in the second round they only won three games out of the 19 they played. The most shocking thing is that a few months after that collapse, he finally achieved glory
However, before this season’s success, the ‘Kitchen’ lived one of the biggest chest colds in the history of modern football. In 2023, the Cariocas lost a lead of 13 points away from their pursuer in the Brazilian. After an immaculate first round, in which they added 47 points, with 15 wins, two draws and two losses, the Botafoguense team deflated dramatically. He only won three matches of the 19 that were played in the second, which took him to fifth place after having led the classification for more than 30 days. The advantage was so great that, with eight games left, the ‘Lone Star’ still had a seven-point advantage, but they did not win another game.
This descent into the hells of Botafogo is explained, mainly, through the bench. In July 2023, with the leading team, Luís Castro, then coach of the ‘Kitchen’He went to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr for just over five million euros. From then on, the Brazilian ship was piloted by four different technicians until the end of the season. The first to take charge was the interim Claudio Capaça, the only one who sustained the situation, as he won the four duels in which he sat on the bench. Subsequently, Bruno Lage took the witness. The former coach of the ‘Wolves’ He only led the Rio de Janeiro squad for ten games, and the lead was reduced to seven points. However, the ship sank with the arrival of Lucio Flavio, who led the team in seven games, with a balance of two wins, one draw and four losses. Botafogo, which was no longer first, opted for a desperate attempt. The board signed Tiago Nunes, who came from Sporting Cristal, a Peruvian club. In the five clashes that guided the ‘Kitchen’ added four points, the result of four draws and one defeat.
In terms of results, the players began to lower their level after the elimination in the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana against Defensa y Justicia (Argentina). The Rio team, which had gone 18 consecutive games without losing, only won two of the 17 subsequent duels, with inexplicable defeats in added time. On matchday 31, Botafogo led Palmeiras 3-0 at half-time, but ended up losing 3-4 with a goal in the 89th minute and another in the 99th minute. A week later, the ‘Lone Star’ gave up two points against Bragantino in the 96th minute, while on matchday 35 Santos once again snatched the victory in added time. The last misfortune was on matchday 36, when the Botafoguenses scored what seemed like the winning goal in the 97th minute. However, in the last action of the duel, Coritiba equalized the match.
John Textor, owner of Botafogo since 2022, is also the largest shareholder of Olympique de Lyon and Crystal Palace. He arrived at the Brazilian club when the institution was going through a critical moment on a sporting and economic level.
The club’s owner, John Textor, seriously accused the referees of his team’s downfall. “I have recorded referees complaining about not receiving their bribes. You can’t win championships like that and the fans are going to realize it.”the American president stated to the Brazilian media Ge. Textor is the majority owner of Eagle Soccer Holdingcompany that owns a large part of the shares of Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyon, which must sell players before the end of the season to avoid administrative relegation. The businessman arrived at the Brazilian club in March 2022, when the institution was going through a critical moment on a sporting and economic level. The team had just gone up to the Series A after a journey in the second half, the third in its history, all of them in the 21st century (2002, 2014 and 2021). Despite the promotion, the squad was very poor in quality, but the American billionaire brought in coach Luís Castro and striker Tiquinho Soares, who increased the team’s ceiling to eleventh place. However, the flashy signings came after the 2023 debacle. Textor paid 25 million euros for Thiago Almada, 21 for Luiz Henrique and 15 for Igor Jesús, current starting forward of the ‘Canarinha’to form an unstoppable trident.
In three years, Botafogo has gone from the hell of Series B to a film doublet. The biggest football ‘pechofriada’ preceded the club’s best season in its 120-year history. He ‘Kitchen’ He rose from the ashes to be crowned king of America for the first time.
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Photograph by Getty Images.
