FLAMENGO
Doha is one of those places that will always be a building site. It’s
a bit like Las Vegas without the glitz, glamour and casinos. Or the
same kind of tourists.
Almost everywhere you turn, a road is being dug up or a
skyscraper is being built. The only more common sight, this week
at least, is Flamengo fans. They are everywhere and no matter
where you see them – in the hotel breakfast room, in the souqs or
strolling down the Corniche – they are wearing club colours and,
more often than not, chanting or singing the name of their team.
You’ll read elsewhere in this magazine an interview I did with
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Liverpool’s team hotel in Doha. In it he
explains why he thinks the FIFA Club World Cup is bigger in South
America than it is in Europe. For Flamengo it is massive.
Beat Liverpool, as they did in Tokyo in 1981, and they’ll hold the
Brazilian league title, Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup
at the same time. It’s a treble they’ve never previously done and
with Jesus – manager Jorge Jesus – guiding them, they genuinely
believe it is their destiny to beat the Reds.
“Na, na, na, na-na-na na, na-na-na na, Jesus!” – to the tune of
The Beatles’ Hey Jude – is among their repertoire. So too is a song
antfer
(Antfer)
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