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With Flamengo being the most popular club in Brazil, the great years they’ve been living means the reaction from fans and media sometimes goes over the top, and we have a good example of it today.

Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira last night scored a beautiful goal from a free-kick. That meant a lot for the club, who hadn’t scored from a free-kick since 2018.

So Globo Esporte now features a story about the 1221 days, 235 games and 83 attempts in which Flamengo couldn’t score from a free-kick. Their piece has the name of the players who took each of them, and list of what happened to each shot.

Speaking to the local media, Flamengo manager Renato Portaluppi made sure to send big compliments to the Manchester United loanee, comparing his shot to those of Flamengo’s biggest legend.

“I’ve played in several games at Maracanã as a player, as a coach, and I remember Zico doing this kind of free kick,” said Renato Portaluppi.

“Roberto Dinamite too. And today was a great goal. A plaque goal. We trained almost daily, and we knew that sooner or later the ball would go in. We won one more move, one more concern for the opponent.”

A ‘Gol de Placa’, or plaque goal, is a common expression in Brazilian football. That’s a reference to a goal scored by Pelé in a match between Santos and Fluminense at the Maracanã Stadium back in 1961. The play was so beautiful that journalist Joelmir Beting ordered a plaque to be made in tribute.

So following Pereira’s goal last night, today we see his name linked to the likes of Zico and Pelé. Meanwhile, part of the Brazilian media urges Flamengo to buy the Manchester United midfielder by triggering the €20m buying option included in the loan.

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