FORMER PRESIDENT OF FLAMENGO REMEMBERS APOLINHO'S PASS AND COMPARES HIM WITH JORGE JESUS

Died yesterday, aged 87, Washington Rodrigues, better known as Apolinho, not only made history as a reporter, commentator and radio presenter. In 1995, he was invited to become coach of Flamengo, his favorite club, in their centenary year. The person responsible for what he treated as a "summon" was Kleber Leite, red-black president at the time, and his old partner in journalistic coverage.

— It was brilliant. You didn't have many options. We had a serious internal coexistence problem at Flamengo. It was a bonfire of vanities — recalls Leite, in contact with the GLOBO report. —I wasn't vice president of football. I was the president of the club. A broader thing to take care of. We needed someone to add something, to put everyone in their pocket.

— At a dinner with Michel Assef (lawyer), I said: "I have a kind of crazy idea. We have to solve the football problem with someone who is new, who moves. It's time to get rid of the same faces. I'm thinking about putting Washington (Apolinho) at Flamengo, I'm going to hire him as a coach to play the role he knows how to do. beautiful idea — said the former president.

At the head of the team, Washington Rodrigues led 26 matches, totaling 11 wins, eight draws and seven defeats. The most significant result was the runner-up in the Supercopa Libertadores of that year. year. In 1998, he returned as the club's technical director. After the unusual adventures, he returned to the radio microphones. But his time left a legacy, according to the then director.

— It was an impressive thing. We traveled all over Brazil. After Romário, no player was the most popular on the team. It was him (Apolinho). He entered the field and received an ovation. I have no doubt or fear in saying that, after Jorge Jesus, who is hors concours, there was no Flamengo coach who had more popular support than Washington — concluded Kléber Leite.

Born in the neighborhood from Engenho Novo, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, on September 1, 1936, Apolinho worked on radio stations such as Nacional, Globo and Tupi, where he has been for the last 25 years. Yesterday, he passed away during the match between Flamengo and Bolívar, in the Libertadores, a 4-0 red-black victory.