World Cup stories: Rodrigo Paiva on 2002's penta, Flamengo hopes | OneFootball

Being part of one of those triumphs is fantastic. Reaching the final is also incredibly difficult. The World Cup is won in the details. And in 2002, I think that, beyond the players’ talent — and they were incredible players — the atmosphere was wonderful. The environment the players, Felipão, and the coaching staff created for themselves was wonderful. And I think that was the big secret.

Back then, you could still train a little. Nowadays, that’s impossible. But at that time, there was time to prepare. There were friendlies in Barcelona and in Malaysia as well. A period before the World Cup started. So there was more time to train.

At that World Cup, when I was still working with Ronaldo too — I was with the national team and working with Ronaldo — Felipão’s biggest challenge was backing Ronaldo. And he backed Ronaldo even though Ronaldo had barely played for almost two years. He had many difficulties in Italy (when he played for Inter Milan). The coach didn’t put him in to regain match rhythm after the injury. And then he ended up coming to Brazil. So, it was a challenge. But there were other challenges too.

Felipão had to face a whole Brazil against him because of Romário’s non-call-up. Rivaldo was a star, a genius, and needed a title of that size to fully cement his legacy. He was still viewed with a lot of distrust by Brazilians. Roberto Carlos was also heavily questioned, even though he was one of the biggest winners in Brazilian football history. A full-back with many titles for Real Madrid. A guy Brazilians also looked at warily. So, it was more about those who were arriving, who needed to establish themselves, and whom Felipão bet on. So it was a World Cup with many challenges. Like all of them, right?

The players united with the coaching staff and formed a group that really could be called a family. And it was a lighter, more relaxed atmosphere. It didn’t carry so much weight. There was also a lot of closeness with the fans and the press. It was a very open World Cup. A lot of contact with every side of football. And it’s an unforgettable memory.

I remember it was 2-0 (in the final against Germany), and there was still some time left. Rogério Ceni was sitting next to me on the bench, right? Because I was on the bench. And I asked, “Rogério, is there any risk?” He said: “Forget it. We’re already world champions.” With 15 minutes still to go. Because I still couldn’t believe that was happening. Then they started bringing the flags over to the bench. Some shirts too, to put on. With the fifth star. It’s an incredible feeling. I still have at home the shirt with four stars. And I also have one with three. It’s so much history. So much time in football.

There are many stories, right? Some maybe can’t be told, others still can. But I remember, for example, that there was no... The internet was still in its infancy, cable TV practically didn’t exist, contact with Brazil was nonexistent. With cell phones, you had to get a Japanese phone to be able to call Brazil. There were no Brazilian cell phones that worked in Asia, it was a different system, so you had no images, no contact, no access to what was happening in Brazil, and the national team left under heavy doubt.

The feedback I got from people was that, with the wins, Brazil was “turning.” When we reached the semifinal, Felipão asked, “See if you can get us some images from Brazil so we can put together a clip to show the team.” The players liked listening on the bus to Ivete Sangalo’s song “A Festa,” which ended up becoming immortalized. So, for the first time, Globo managed to send us images from Brazil, because normally Globo’s satellite sent images from Japan to Brazil so they could do their news coverage, and Globo was there broadcasting exclusively. And then I asked Luiz Fernando Lima and João Ramalho, who were Globo’s directors, if they could do the reverse — send images from Brazil to Japan of the people, the celebrations, what the players were achieving, how much they had won the fans over. And Globo managed to send it. Then we added the song they liked, which was “A Festa,” and we made the clip that was shown before the semifinal, on the eve of the semifinal against Turkey, for the players. That really gave them an incredible boost; they came bouncing out of the team talk. We beat Turkey and reached the final, and then Felipão said, “We have to repeat it,” let’s make another video. So we made a video with everyone who was part of the process, from the cook and nutritionist to the people who stayed in Brazil. There were images of all those people mixed with the goals they had scored and also reactions from the fans. And we made a clip and used a Zeca Pagodinho song, which at the time also wasn’t very well known yet, “Vai Rolar a Festa.” So we put together this final clip, which was fantastic. And those two songs became immortalized. And they still kind of define the national team to this day. But you can see it wasn’t something planned. It came from their feelings. It wasn’t imposed, not a song someone liked for commercial reasons. It was music they liked to sing on the bus, or listen to on the bus. And then we made those two clips, which have remained immortalized to this day.

As for missing it, football is very dynamic, we live very much in the present. I don’t spend much time remembering the past. I have a huge recent past to celebrate. Having been part of last year’s Flamengo group, which won all the titles in a wonderful atmosphere, with the talent of these incredible players, also became part of Flamengo’s history. Football is very much like that, living today and tomorrow, and not looking too much behind. But if I do look back, I have had an incredible life in sport. I never imagined I would go so far, having worked with Romário and Ronaldo, exclusively, with both of them; having been the communications director for the World Cup in Brazil for four years, chosen by FIFA; having led CBF communications at five World Cups; having started my life at Flamengo; having been Brazilian champion in 1992, state champion in 1991, and then coming back here to experience incredible matches and incredible emotions with Flamengo. It’s very gratifying to remember all of that. And I miss the people. That moment. Later I went back to Japan a few times, and that stirs something in us. But, thank God, everyone moved on and moved on well.

I have immense affection for all those people who were part of that moment and helped me so much, especially the players, the coaching staff, Felipão. And I think that when we meet, all those who were there... And the players gave interviews every day, went through the mixed zone every day, arrived at the hotel and the press was there, on our floor. I remember... we were the only place in Japan that had rice and beans, and one day we invited the journalists to eat rice and beans after almost 40 days without it. And there was Fátima Bernardes, Mauro Naves, lots of people, Galvão (Bueno), so many people who were there. There were many journalists, a huge press contingent. The press conference on the eve of the final had 1,300 journalists. Almost 1,400. The press conference at our hotel was gigantic. And remembering that, drawing a parallel with 2014: in 2014 at Granja Comary, in the national team’s preparation, we had a thousand journalists there every day, and we didn’t hold a single closed training session. So it was a different moment in football. It was another concept, one of greater closeness. These are the things I like to remember and miss.

Perhaps the biggest defeat in Brazilian football history. I had been suspended and couldn’t even go to the dressing room (against Germany). I would arrive on the bus and go straight to the stands.

It was a very difficult moment, because I went to break up a fight and (Carlos Alberto) Parreira said: “Go there, Rodrigo, you’re calm, break it up.” Then the Chilean player (in the round of 16) shoved me, I shoved back, the referee was passing by at that moment and sent me off. I was out of that game, in the stands, and I couldn’t help in any way in that very difficult moment.

I remember that moment, how painful a defeat can be, how much everyone suffered through it. We had to return from Belo Horizonte to Rio and, when we arrived, we didn’t go to our homes... we had to go up to Granja Comary, already in the morning. I remember hearing only crying on the bus, a deep silence, nobody said anything for hours. That moment, for me, was one of great learning, of seeing how pain has to bring clarity. I spoke with Felipão in the morning, because nobody had slept all night. I said: Felipão, we spoke yesterday at the stadium, we gave the press conference, but I have an idea: I think we have to be brave and go face it. Everything went wrong, it wasn’t supposed to be like this, it was what fate had in store for us, but we have to face it.

I suggested we call a press conference, sit there, and take the hits. I said: we all have a history in football that allows us to have the courage to face the press and own our mistakes. He said: set it up and I’ll go. What was even better is that the whole staff sat at the table. Everyone started saying: I’m going. Runco said it, Parreira said it, Paulo Paixão, the fitness coach, said it. Everyone went. The press didn’t understand anything, because nobody expected it. The normal thing would have been to disappear and hide, but they had the courage. It was an hour of criticism and questioning. Given the result, it couldn’t have been any different, but that’s when you see why people are winners in life: without courage, you don’t win. We should never be ashamed of having tried to do our best.

It’s an unforgettable moment for me, having been part of a group that won in 2002 and lost in that way in 2014. They were basically the same professionals, reinforced by Parreira. They were two World Cup-winning coaches. There are a thousand reasons, which I won’t go into. Those may have been the worst ten days of my life. Because I was sent off in the match and missed that Germany semifinal. If we had won, I would have gone to the World Cup final at the Maracanã. And it was, unbelievably, Brazil’s best result since 2002. In a World Cup, even though it was Brazil’s worst defeat. And the last thing is that in that same week my mother passed away. So, those are three things like that, and the worst of them came afterward. Which was my mother’s death, and I couldn’t even be there for the third-place match. After the Germany game, my mother passed away two days later. So, it was the worst week of my life.

For me, all Flamengo players... I think there were even more people who could have gone. They are in an incredible moment in their careers. They have experience combined with ability and quality. I even think Flamengo could have provided even more players. And I think a World Cup, I know the World Cup. A World Cup is about having a group... of at least 16, 17 players who will be fundamental. And a lot gets adjusted during the competition. So I think they all have a chance to earn a starting spot. And they all have a chance to participate intensely in this achievement.

A cut is one of the toughest moments for a national team, because it involves that person’s dreams, it involves a teammate no longer being there, someone who should be continuing the journey with everyone else. It’s a moment of great frustration and something you can’t deal with easily. It’s very hard to deal with a cut, for everyone, for the player, for everyone. In 2002 there was Emerson, but if you remember, in 1998, with Romário, he was cut; in 2002, Emerson; in 2006, Edmílson; and every World Cup always ends up having someone cut, someone gets cut. It’s hard to have a World Cup without a player being cut, but... The Ronaldo issue in 1998 (the seizure hours before the final) taught us a lot so that in 2002 we could handle the transition from a cut in the best possible way. That Ronaldo episode taught a lot. And when Emerson got hurt in training on the eve of the match, there were still a few hours left for you to replace him. And I remember on the field, doctor Runco telling Felipão that he would not be able to play, that he would only undergo an exam scheduled by FIFA, because once the World Cup is underway FIFA is in control, to confirm it, but that he was certain he wouldn’t recover in time during the tournament. And that’s when Felipão already had to start thinking of a name to replace him.

Then Américo (Faria, supervisor) spoke to me, and as we talked with Felipão, José Luiz Runco, and (assistant Antônio) Lopes, we decided we would communicate the cut together with the announcement of the new call-up, so there wouldn’t be that gap for speculation and leaks. So when the exam confirmed the injury that the doctor had suspected, within minutes Américo informed Ricardinho and his club — if I’m not mistaken it was São Paulo at the time — informed the club, I called the press. I issued a statement and called the press in person, because back then communication didn’t have the speed it has today, so everything had to be done simultaneously. We announced the sadness of Emerson’s withdrawal, of the cut, and the arrival of Ricardinho, without giving room for speculation. And that’s it: at the same time there’s sadness and proactive news, which is the new call-up, for the press to deal with. And that’s how sport is. Sport doesn’t leave much time for suffering. You immediately look ahead and move on. So I think the key was having that 1998 experience and applying it correctly in 2002.

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