Athlético Paranaense had well and truly put the pain of their Copa Libertadores defeat behind them, only losing four times in 42 matches seven months into 2039. But the hard work began now as they looked to go again in the Libertadores knockouts and aim for the club's second Série A title and first in 38 years.
"To play your best in the present, you need to turn the page on the past. To move forward, see the past game as a footnote in yesterday's newspaper. Imagine yourself flipping through yesterday's news and refuse to see what happened yesterday." That was the advice of Robaato Rasamu's lead sport psychologist to his Athlético Paranaense players and staff as they tried to recover from the absolute heartbreak they'd suffered in Paraguay.
July 2038 saw Robaato Rasamu celebrate 15 years of life as a Football Manager and, having won continental titles in Asia, North America and Africa, he was potentially facing his toughest task yet. The brutal nature of Brazilian football was starting to catch up with his young Athlético Paranaense side, who'd played nearly half their Série A season in just two months.
Athlético Paranaense came into 2038 armed with an exciting arsenal of young talents like strikers Pipoca and Esdras, winger Paulo Roberto Aal and Brazil international Lucas Pena Barcelos. And manager Robaato Rasamu was excited about the club's future.
The phrase "golden generation" is all-too-often overused in football circles, but Robaato Rasamu believed he'd absolutely inherited one at Athlético Paranaense. His squad contained 11 players considered to have 5-star potential which, according to his staff, constituted "world class," and an additional 17 with at least 4-star potential.
Robaato Rasamu had always loved Brazilian football, having grown up idolising the likes of Kaká, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. So being given the opportunity to manage in the country was akin to letting a kid loose in the world's biggest sweet shop.
A massive summer rebuild had seen Robaato Rasamu totally reshape his Athlético Paranaense squad. He'd sold off the bad eggs at the club and was now operating with a much younger squad that was packed to the rafters with potential.
A tricky few months in Curitiba had left Robaato Rasamu facing arguably the biggest challenge of his short managerial career. He'd taken charge of an Athlético Paranaense side that was underperforming and, the way he saw it, was filled with prima donnas earning far too much money and in some cases were far too old.
Having fully relaxed for a month or so, it was time for Robaato Rasamu to consider the two outstanding tasks on his Pentagon Pursuit. The next challenge on his globetrotting adventure was to find himself a job in South America. But importantly, it couldn't be any old South American club.
The magic touch of Japanese manager Robaato Rasamu was rubbing off on his Kaizer Chiefs side as they looked set to qualify from their African Champions League group and led the way in South Africa's DStv Premiership. A welcome two-month mid-season break moving into 2035 gave Rasamu and his players a little time to recover, reset and refocus ahead of a huge few months.
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