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What Did Dedé Say About Arrascaeta’s Situation During His Time at Cruzeiro?

Arrascaeta is one of the greatest players in Brazilian football today. However, before making his mark at Flamengo, the Uruguayan began his Brazilian career playing for Cruzeiro. In this context, former defender Dedé shared behind-the-scenes details of a conversation he had with the number 10 of Mengão back when they played together for the team from Minas Gerais.

— When Arrascaeta arrived at Cruzeiro in 2015, he came wanting to return to his team in Uruguay. 2015 went by, I returned to Cruzeiro, and Arrascaeta didn’t care, he was desperate to leave. I called Arrascaeta over to midfield during training and told him he had the potential to be Uruguay’s number 10 –, he said, before concluding:

— He is sensational. I became a trusted friend of his, I protected him on the field. The issue was adapting, and he was going through that period. When the other foreigners joined the squad, he started to feel better at Cruzeiro –, Dedé finished in an interview with the ‘Charla Podcast’.

It’s important to note that Arrascaeta played for Defensor (URU) before joining Cruzeiro. After standing out and being a key figure in Cruzeiro’s Copa do Brasil triumph in 2018, Flamengo sought to sign the midfielder.

WHEN DID ARRASCAETA JOIN FLAMENGO?

The Uruguayan Arrascaeta arrived at the start of 2019 as part of a major recruitment drive by Flamengo. At first, the player alternated between starting and sitting on the bench under Abel Braga. However, as soon as Jorge Jesus took charge, the midfielder became a ‘key piece’ in Mengão’s attacking system.

With Arrascaeta in the squad, Flamengo continues to rack up titles and break records. Focusing on this season, the number 10 is the team’s top scorer in 2025, in addition to having played a direct role in winning the Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores da América.

WHAT IS FLAMENGO’S NEXT MATCH?

After Arrascaeta scored two goals for Flamengo in the win over Cruz Azul (MEX), Flamengo is now in the Intercontinental semifinal. In short, their opponent will be Pyramids (EGY) this Saturday (13th), at 2pm (Brasília time), in Doha, Qatar.

Coluna do Fla TV, as usual, will bring all the details of the match with on-site coverage by Simon Lédo on YouTube, as well as on their website and social media. Finally, Globo (free-to-air), SporTV (cable), CazéTV, and GETV (YouTube) will broadcast the game.

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