Filé named South America's best physiotherapist for second time | OneFootball

Nilton Petrone, known as Filé, was elected the best sports physiotherapist in South America for the second consecutive year at the 2026 CONFUT Sudamericana Football Card. General coordinator of physiotherapy at Fluminense since 2014, he won the award through a popular online vote.

In this edition, Filé competed against Lucas Freitas of Palmeiras, who finished in second place, and Matheus Campos of Athletico-PR, who came in third. The award ceremony took place on Thursday (10) at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro’s Southwest Zone.

Filé’s relationship with Fluminense has now lasted 12 years. During this period, he has been directly involved in the recovery of several players and helped structure work focused not only on treating injuries, but also on preventing new physical problems.

The department led by the physiotherapist works on the recovery of injured athletes and also on the regeneration process after training sessions. The work is not limited to the professional squad, as youth academy players facing more serious injuries also receive follow-up care at CT Carlos Castilho.

One recent example was attacking midfielder Naarã Lucas, the number 10 for the under-20 team, who completed part of his recovery process at the club’s training center.

Throughout his time at Fluminense, Filé has also been involved in cases of athletes who managed to return to the pitch before the period initially expected for their recovery, without suffering the same physical problems again.

Before joining the Tricolor, the physiotherapist had already built a distinguished career in Brazilian football. In 2002, he took part in Ronaldo’s recovery process during preparation for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The striker recovered in time to play in the tournament and finished as the top scorer with eight goals, helping Brazil win its fifth World Cup title.

After more than a decade at Fluminense, Filé has now claimed his second consecutive award as the best sports physiotherapist in South America.

After the achievement, he thanked Fluminense’s fans and everyone who took part in the vote.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.