The Brazilian media’s coverage of Flamengo has been pretty annyoing lately.
Even though the Rio de Janeiro side have the best team and the biggest fanbase in the country, the local press is still managing to exaggerate when making predictions and comparisons.
On Monday, FIFA held the draw for the World Cup of Clubs. And Liverpool, as it always happens, would only face a South American club in the tournament’s final.
The Copa Libertadores is still far from decided, since the semifinals will only be played in October. Brazilian clubs Flamengo and Grêmio are clashing for a spot in the final, while the other clash is the Argentine superclasico between River Plate and Boca Juniors.
These are four great teams, all with enough conditions to win the tournament. But when interviewing Jordan Henderson this week, Esporte Interativo asked him if he thinks of playing a Brazilian club, maybe Flamengo from the ‘historical’ final from 1981.
“Well, it’s obviously an opportunity, you know, for us. But at the minute we’ve got a lot of games before then. You know, in Champions League, in Premier League and domestic cups. So we’ve got a lot of games before that. So for us, full concentration on the games ahead. And when we go over to Qatar to play the Fifa World Club championship then we’ll see who we will play there.”
Liverpool dominated English and European Football in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and we wonder if Jordan Henderson even knows a single defeat to Flamengo in Tokyo.
This isn’t the first time someone from Liverpool is put in such a position lately. When Mario Balotelli was being linked to Flamengo this summer, Esporte Interativo asked Jurgen Klopp about his opinion on the move. The Reds boss was very polite to say he couldn’t say much, although he clearly expected a better question.
