The rise of Retrô Futebol Clube Brasil continued as they recorded yet another club high finish, coming 2nd only to Flamengo in Brazil’s top flight in 2032. And, despite what the bookies continued to believe, manager Robinho Lazaró felt his young stars were ready to compete with Brazil’s elite.
The new year began with devastating news as star youth product Rodrigo Godinho accepted a club record £13.25m move to Saudi. He departs after more than 300 appearances, scoring a club record 124 league goals. Lazaró also moved on a few players who weren’t up to it, selling midfielder Nicolás Sandoval to Toluca for £725k, striker Carlos Vera to Juventude for £675k and homegrown midfielder Toago to Oaxaca for £375k and defender Rafael to Atlas for £140k. Those deals boosted the bank balance to a huge new high of £38.2m.
Lazaró snapped up Colombian winger Howar Menjura on a free from Orsomarso, and he instantly became worth up to £13m. He also promoted exciting academy talent Alex as the backup striker at the age of just 16, attacker Matheus de Oliveira, midfielders Brener Vargas and Eduardo and centre back Wesley Martins.
Godinho’s departure sees Marcelo Martínez step up as the primary playmaker in behind main striker Diego Ruiz. Menjura is arguably the best right winger, with Ricardo backing up him and Martínez, and Ricardo Cavalcante on the left. Mateus has a strong challenger in Roberto Feijao at right back and Colombian Nicolás Pino has developed into the best right sided centre back alongside Roberto Cuero, with Martins pushing him close.
Flying Start to Série A
Retrô began 2033 in style, winning 4-1 at Náutico with a Ruiz brace and Godinho scored in hs final appearance in a 2-0 win at Afogados. Life without Godinho began with Mateus, Joílson and Ruiz earning a win over Central, and they went on to top the group with a 100% record for the first time. They eased past Náutico 7-3 on aggregate, before Menjura’s first goal earned a 1-0 aggregate victory over Sport Recife. That saw them retain the title for the first time and won them Pernambuco State for the 3rd time in 4 years. Ruiz was top scorer and named the best player after 8 goals, 3 assists and a 7.57 rating in 10 games and Danilo Rodrigues kept a league record 8 clean sheets, only conceding 4 in 11 games.
The bookies still didn’t fancy Retrô’s chances in Série A, predicting them to finish 15th with title odds of 100/1. Palmeiras remain 6/5 favourites, ahead of holders Flamengo (13/5), Gremio, Corinthians and Santos (20/1) and Botafogo, Coritiba, Vasco da Gama and Bahia (33/1).
Série A began with several players on international duty, but a superb performance saw Advaldo, Joílson and Mateus down Fortaleza 3-0. That seemingly got to relatively new assistant manager Lucas Silvestre’s head as, having been sent to handle the pre-match press conference for a trip to Paranaense, the madman predicted Retrô would win Série A! Lazaró told him to pipe down a little, but the players absolutely loved it as they went and spanked Paranaense crowned by Alex coming off the bench to score his first 2 senior goals.
Fellow academy star Martins also headed his first senior goal to nick a point at Corinthians. And the good start continued, including an impressive 3-2 win at Fluminense with unlikely goalscorers in midfielder Samuel Neira, Feijao and Pino, as Retrô topped the league unbeaten after 10 games. And their title credentials were bolstered by a stunning 4-1 victory over affiliate club Palmeiras with goals by Ruiz, Menjura, Cavalcante and Martínez, which was backed up by Cuero and Ruiz downing Flamengo 2-0.
A little bit of a wobble followed in August, which was snapped by Cavalcante and Martínez earning a 2-0 win over Botafogo. However, their hopes were hit hard by captain Advaldo suffering a devastating ACL injury that ruled him out for up to 9 months in September before his replacement Joílson broke his kneecap. Their teammates rallied to hammer América Mineiro 4-0 with goals by Cavalcante, Alex, Ruiz and Martínez and, with 10 games remaining, they remarkably remained in top spot by 6 points.
First Taste of Copa Libertadores Proper
Last season’s league finish saw Retrô bypass the qualifying rounds and go directly into the Copa Libertadores group stage for the first time. They got a relatively tricky draw in Group alongside Argentina’s Godoy Cruz, Colombia’s Atlético Nacional and Bolivia’s The Strongest.
The group kicked off with a daunting trip to altitude at The Strongest, but that proved no challenge as Cavalcante and a Ruiz double earned a comfortable 3-0 win. The first home game in Copa Libertadores set a new gate receipts record of £600k as Martínez and Ruiz goals edged a 2-1 win over Godoy Cruz, in a game marred by the former suffering a fractured kneecap, before losing 1-0 at home to Nacional. Alex returned the favour with the only goal in Colombia and they secured qualification and Ruiz and Cavalcante braces led a 6-0 hammering of The Strongest. And they wrapped up with a rotated side earning a creditable 0-0 at Godoy Cruz to finish 2nd in the group.
That sent them into the second round, where they were reunited with Rosario Central, who knocked them out of Copa Sudamericana in the semis last season. But Retrô gained revenge as Ruiz’s first half brace, both from Menjura crosses, earned a 3-0 home win before Ruiz and Cavalcante goals edged a 2-1 victory in Argentina. A quarter final with Atlético Mineiro followed and another strong home performance saw Cavalcante score a screamer after half an hour before Martins headed a late second. And a 0-0 bore draw in the return leg sent them into the semis.
In the last four, Retrô took on surprise package Atlético Bucaramanga. Cavalcante laid on Ruiz and André goals seconds either side of half time to earn a 2-0 win in Colombia and, a week later, he scored the only goal in the return leg to send his side into the Final!
The biggest day in Retrô’s history saw them take on affiliate club Palmeiras, which saw 52,000 Brazilians descend on Monumental de Maturín in Venezuela. Lazaró had a few selection headaches with a few players just about back from injury, but lined up:
Rodrigues; Mateus, Pino, Cuero; Carrizo; Joílson, André; Menjura, Ricardo, Cavalcante; Ruiz
Subs: Alex, Daniel, Martins, Neira, Martínez, Vargas, Feijao, Fabao, Rabelo, Santos Filho, Gustavo
Retrô made a bright start as Menjura’s delicious strike with the outside of his right foot clipped the bar and Joílson fired two shots just over. But they missed a few chances and were punished as Palmeiras scored their first shot 3 minutes before halftime. However, straight from kick off, Ruiz picked out Cavalcante to calmly slot past the keeper. The second half started slowly but an excellent passing move ended with Menjura sliding a delicious ball through to put Ruiz clean through on goal, and the striker put them in front. But Palmeiras obviously scored their 2nd shot on target 3 minutes later. And having dominated by 21 shots to 7, they somehow drew 2-2.
Into extra time, Lazaró made a few subs – who all appeared wearing their full tracksuits – but Palmeiras took control as Vitor Roque had a goal ruled out for offside, but wasn’t to be denied a second time. And that decided it, with Palmeiras claiming a pretty undeserved 3-2 victory. On the plus side, Cavalcante was named the Best Player in Copa Libertadores after 8 goals, 2 assists and a 7.64 rating in 12 games.
Another Battle with Palmeiras
The league lead was halved by losing out to a late Vasco winner before Pino’s header earned a solid point at Palmeiras. And now, with 6 games remaining, the top four were split by just 6 points. Menjura and Cuero’s first half goals were enough to defeat Paranaense 2-0, but their youth product Juliano de Melo scored the third as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at Flamengo. And Palmeiras won twice in a week to go top of the league on goal difference.
Matchday 33 – Santos (16th, home): Retrô returned to the top of the league as Ruiz and a Menjura brace downed Santos 3-1. Palmeiras thrashed Sport Recife 5-0 to return to top spot.
Matchday 34 – Sport Recife (18th, away): Palmeiras slipped up with a 2-1 defeat at Bahia before a big rival clash, in which an excellent Cavalcante 20-yard half volley sealed a tight 1-0 victory. That took Retrô 3 points clear of Palmeiras and 6 points clear of Flamengo with 4 games remaining.
Matchday 35 – Bahia (4th, home): A rotated side held on for a decent point at home to Bahia, while Palmeiras picked up a huge 3-2 win over Flamengo. So with 3 games to go, just 1 point split the affiliate clubs at the top.
Matchday 36 – Cruzeiro (12th, home): A few days on from the Libertadores Final, Retrô again conceded the first shot. But Lazaró laid into the team at the break and got his reward as Menjura drilled in from 20 yards. They looked to be dropping points before a magical moment as 16-year-old Alex came off the bench and powered a low drive into the bottom corner in the last minute. And that goal could prove crucial as Palmeiras fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Gremio, taking Retrô 4 points clear with 2 games remaining.
Matchday 37 – Gremio (4th, away): Little Retrô had a chance at an unlikely maiden Brazilian title as they made the trip to Gremio. They struggled early on but grew into the game, which was very light on goalmouth activity. Rodrigues made a great save to keep it at 0-0 after 75 minutes and they held on for a hard-earned 0-0. Bahia had appeared out of nowhere, winning 3 games in a week to move 2 points behind… but Palmeiras played in the Intercontinental Cup, which delayed their final match to the Wednesday after the final day.
Matchday 38 – Sao Paulo (11th, home): But Retrô knew their title hopes were in their hands going into the final day. They started well amid an absolute downpour in northeast Brazil, and took advantage as Mateus scored a very rare goal from a narrow angle just before the half hour. But they were pegged back by a screamer by Sao Paulo’s left back and, after dominating by 14 shots to 8, they again fell short to draw 1-1. Bahia lost 2-0 to Flamengo, but Palmeiras beat Fortaleza 3-0 to move within 3 points before their final game. A few days later, Palmeiras travelled to Sao Paulo knowing a win would nick them the title based on matches won… but they lost 3-2!
Little Retrô FC claimed their maiden Série A title to become Champions of Brazil!
Retrô claimed the league title by 3 points, finishing on 75 points (the same total as last season when they finished 2nd) after 21 wins, 12 draws and 5 defeats, scoring 62 and conceding a league-low 33. Cavalcante led Série A with a 7.31 rating, Ruiz was the 13th top scorer with a slightly disappointing 12 in 35. As a result, Cavalcante was named the league’s Player of the Year and Yong Player of the Year, while Lazaró was named Manager of the Year for the first time.
Celebrating Unlikely Success at Retrô
Lazaró knew his young stars were capable of competing with Brazil’s elite, but hadn’t really expected a title challenge while reaching the Libertadores final. However, the squad pulled together to pull off an unlikely Série A success.
Ruiz again led the goalscoring chart with 30 in 60, but disappointed a little in the league and was being problematic regarding a new contract. The star of the season was very much Cavalcante with 19 goals and 15 assists, while Martínez scored 10 with 9assists, Alex scored 7 with 4 assists, the improving Menjura delivered 14 assists with 7 goals and André scored 5 with 10 assists.
Menjura came in 17th on NxGn 2033 and the latest youth intake delivered 3 potentially elite talents, led by attacker Ismael, midfielder José Paulo and centre back Casado, but it wasn’t the best bunch.
They join the ranks in Lazaró’s Ginga tracker, which continues to be led by Ruiz (81), followed by Martínez (77) and Cavalcante and Ricardo (72).
Could Lazaró’s young stars defend their surprise Série A title? And could the manager keep hold of his best young players? Join us next Monday to find out!
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