Promotion joy filled the streets of Camaragibe as an exciting young Retrô Futebol Clube Brasil secured top flight football for just the second time in the club’s 14-year history in 2030. The club’s first foray into top tier football did not go well, as they took 18 games to win a match and finished bottom of Série A despite a late flurry.
However, manager Robinho Lazaró was convinced his young stars were better equipped for the step up this time around. That belief was founded on the likes of midfielders André and Advaldo, attacker Rodrigo Godinho, winger Joílson and defenders Roberto Cuero and Sergio Carrizo all now being considered to have Série A quality. And he moved quickly to lock down his star men to massive new deals that further enhanced their mandatory minimum release fees.
The club bid farewell to goalkeeper Deivid, now 25, after 213 league games to Novo Iguacu and moved on striker Gustavo Anderson for £425k to Maguary. That boosted the bank balance, which had oddly dwindled last season, to £3.5m, with £6m available to spend and only half of a £100k wage bill being spent.
However, he bolstered the attack with a potential superstar in Diego Ruiz, who’s already scored 2 in 2 for Colombia and becomes the highest paid player in club history on £8k a week. He signed for a club record £650k from Junior FC, along with midfielder Nicolás Sandoval on a free from Nacional. Lazaró also promoted centre back Rafael, winger Fransuar Santos Filho and striker Sérgio.
The arrival of Ruiz forced Lazaró to drop Godinho into a deeper role, which wasn’t a bad thing as he has 15 passing and 17 vision. He stuck with the 4-3-3 approach that had worked nicely in the second tier, knowing that he may need to go a bit more conservative against Brazil’s best.
Better Equipped for Top Flight Football?
Ruiz immediately had the fans excited as he scored twice on debut in a 4-1 win over Central in the Pernambuco State opener, then went one better with a hat trick downing Santa Cruz 3-0 on his home debut. He scored again as Godinho scored twice in a statement 4-1 win at Sport Recife, and Retrô topped the group then edged past Porto de Caruaru 1-0 on aggregate before losing to Sport Recife on penalties in the final.
Unsurprisingly, the bookies fancied Retrô for an immediate return to Série B, picking them as relegation favourites at 800/1 for the title along with Ceará. Other relegation favourites are Vitória (350/1), Bragantino (200/1) and Juventude and Internacional (100/1). Champions Palmeiras, who’ve won the last 2 titles after Bahia’s surprise success in 2028, are 5/4 favourites, followed by Flamengo (13/5), Corinthians (16/1) and Santos, Bahia and Cruzeiro (25/1).
Retrô’s return to Série A began with left back Erik becoming the club’s record league appearance holder, moving onto 267 as Votobel’s goal was enough for a 1-1 at home to Atlético Minerio. Ruiz’s goal earned the same scoreline at Gremio, but he then got injured and Godinho stepped up with the only goal at home to Ceará – earning their first win 15 games earlier than last time around. The unbeaten start continued as, after hitting the post 3 times, they conceded twice out of nowhere, but quickfire Advaldo and André strikes earned a 2-2 at Paranaense and Joílson and Godinho secured the same score at home to Botafogo.
The solid start ended with a slightly unlucky 1-0 defeat at Bahia, which offered plenty of hope. Another tricky game followed at home to affiliate side and holders Palmeiras and, on Lazaró’s 47th birthday, captain Advaldo drilled in a 25-yard goal of the month-winning rocket to rescue a late point – which made it 5 draws in 7 games!
They put that right as Godinho and Sandoval’s first goal for the club earned a crucial 2-0 win at Bragantino. Exciting midfielder Ricardo earned another impressive point at home to Fluminense, before a first really poor performance saw them defeated 3-1 at Cruzeiro. But they bounced back in style as Joílson scored in solid 2-0 wins at home to Internacional and Vitória and a 3-0 win at home to Coritiba. Those good results set Retrô up nicelyand, despite a 6-2 hammering at Flamengo, they sat 12th in the league and 6 points above the dropzone at the halfway mark.
Godinho had a few discipline issues, missing training twice due to being spotted in bars in June and July. But he returned to score the only goal at home to Paranaense, which took Retrô to 32 points and into the top half after 23 games. Wide man Juninho inspired an impressive 3-1 win at former South American champions Botafogo, who subsequently sacked their manager, before a late Sérgio strike earned a commendable point against 2029 champions Bahia. And a 2-0 win at struggling Fluminense, inspired by a brilliant Joílson brace, saw them hit the 40-point mark with 10 games remaining.
The good form continued and a 2-1 win at Internacional, courtesy of a late André 20-yard volley, saw Retrô jump up a tight table to sit in the heady heights of 4th place! Lazaró passed 400 games in charge of Retrô with a 1-0 defeat at Coritiba that saw them plummet all the way to 9th with 4 games remaining. Injuries hit, but they rallied to defeat Sao Paulo 2-1 thanks to Juninho’s late winner before losing their final away day 2-0 at Santos. And the campaign wrapped up with an impressive 3-1 victory over Flamengo courtesy of goals by Ruiz, centre back Marcos Rabelo and a first senior goal for young midfielder Santos Filho.
Unbelievably, that final day victory saw Retrô secure qualification for Copa Libertadores! They finished the campaign in an impressive 6th place on 58 points after 16 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats, scoring 52 and conceding 50. At the top of the table, Santos had been right up there challenging Palmeiras until the last couple of months of the season. But a defeat at their rivals saw them fall apart and drop well off the pace as Verdao wrapped up 3 successive titles at a canter. While Cruzeiro, who won Copa Libertadores just 2 years ago, were relegated alongside 2023 South American champions Fluminense.
Interestingly, Retrô led Série A in dribbles made (740), completed the 2nd most crosses (223) and had the 3rd best non penalty xG (57.33). However, they had the 3rd worst conversion rate (just 8%) and shots on target ratio (41%), despite having the 3rd most shots and shots per game (594 and 15.63). On the positive side, they had the league’s 4th best defence, kept the 4th most clean sheets (13) and only conceded 6 goals from set pieces, as well as leading the way in clearances (603).
They didn’t really have any standout players in the league, bar Godinho having the 2nd highest xG underperformance and Advaldo being one of just three players to score a free kick goal all season. But Joílson had the 3rd most key passes in the league and he and Ricardo Cavalcante were in the top 10 for key passes per 90 minutes, which suggests they needed the strikers to be a little more clinical. While homegrown goalkeeper Danilo Rodrigues impressed with the 3rd most saves, the 3rd most clean sheets (13) and 4th best xG prevented (-1.78).
Impressive Série A Overperformance
Lazaró’s belief that Retrô were better equipped for life in Série A very much rang true, and his efforts were rewarded with a new three year contract on £1,500 per week at the end of the season. New boy Ruiz led the way with 17 goals in 35 games, but only scored 5 in 19 in Série A after a few injury struggles. The rocks of the team were midfielders André and Advaldo with 7.14 and 7.04 average ratings, scoring a combined 14 goals with 8 assists. Godinho dropped off a little with 12 goals and 4 assists, Joílson impressed with 14 goals but only 4 assists and Ricardo, who’s now wanted by all the big European clubs, chipped in with 9 assists and 5 goals. While Rodrigues had a breakthrough season, keeping a new club record 21 clean sheets.
Ruiz’s talent was recognised as he impressively came 3rd in NxGn 2031. And the club’s potential was boosted by a stellar youth intake promising 6 elite prospects led by left-sided centre back Igor Medaglia, who needs to work on his physicals, alongside midfielders Fabao and Wellington Garibaldi, strikers Matheus de Oliveira and Raimundo, and full back Guarana.
Those youngsters come into the Ginga rating tracker, which is now led by Ruiz (77), Votobel (74), Carlos (73) and Godinho (69). But they were still nowhere near producing a player worthy of godly Ginga status a la Pelé and Neymar, which requires a player to have a total of 90.
Lazaró now faced a huge challenge of competing in Série A alongside the distraction of Copa Libertadores, and the massive number of matches that step up delivers. Could their young squad continue to deliver in 2032? Join us next Monday to find out!
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