FLAMENGO IDOL SHOTS GABIGOL: "WHEN HE PICKED UP SHIRT NO. 10, I DIDN'T LIKE IT"!

Doctor Luiz Antônio Vieira, responsible for Pedro's surgery, commented that the attacker's recovery has been very positive. The surgeon was responsible for reconstructing the anterior cruciate ligament in Pedro's knees — on the right in 2018 and on the left this year. Vieira believes that the player's return will be better than his first injury, which occurred six years ago.

In an interview with the 'GE' portal, the doctor, who also operated on Bruno Henrique, detailed the surgical procedure, highlighting Pedro's physical and psychological qualities and reassured Flamengo fans about the possibility of the striker being present at the Club World Cup, in June next year.

“He was lucky not to have a meniscus injury , so joint rehabilitation is faster. We're still in September, I mean, he'll be there for about eight months, because that's around the time he turns around, between the eighth and ninth month. So I believe he has a chance. He is very dedicated, super focused on rehabilitation, does everything you tell him to, has strong legs, good muscles... I think he has a chance. He will be around the time he would more or less return”, said the doctor.

Luiz Antônio Vieira commented on the way Pedro is coping mentally with the situation. After suffering the same injury in 2018 to one knee, the attacker now has the anterior cruciate ligament in his other knee torn. The doctor highlighted that Flamengo's Shirt 9 is very calm and sees this as a learning experience for his life.

“He has one good thing: he is quite religious. So he believes that it is part of his life learning, that he had to go through this. He accepted, in a way he resigned himself a little. He said: ‘Doctor, I’ve been through this, I’m going to have to go through it again, it was supposed to be like this, it’s part of my life, let’s face it’. He is super calm about it”, explained Vieira.

In addition, Vieira mentioned the time that Pedro will be able to spend with his twin daughters, who were born just over a month ago.

“He’s at a stage where he just had a baby, right? He has one-month-old twins, so I told him: “Everything in life has a good and a bad side. You will now be able to live with your one-month-old daughters because playing football two or three times a week would be impossible, right”? So let's put it this way, there will be this good part, in inverted commas, of his drama”, concluded the surgeon.

Léo Ortiz is one of the new additions to Dorival Júnior's pre-call for October's FIFA Date. As happened in September, the CBF will use the maximum period of ten days to announce the 23 players who will defend the Seleção against Chile and Peru. However, the preliminary list was already sent to the clubs last Friday. At Flamengo, in addition to Ortiz, there are Fabrício Bruno, Ayrton Lucas and Gerson.

Improvised as a midfielder, Léo Ortiz has been one of Flamengo's highlights in this second half of the year, earning the admiration of the fans. However, in the match against Peñarol, Ortiz was passed over by Tite and started on the bench.

Interestingly, it was Flamengo's current coach who gave Ortiz his first opportunities in the national team. In 2021, the defender was called up for the Copa América, in which Brazil finished as runner-up.

If Ortiz is a surprise, the other three red-and-black players are already household names. Fabrício Bruno and Gerson were in the September squad, and Ayrton Lucas was called up by Dorival Júnior in March.

FIFA regulations allow the 23 players to be defined up to ten days before the presentation, but the clubs that have pre-summoned athletes must be informed 15 days in advance. Therefore, the CBF already notified the clubs on Friday.

Dorival Júnior's official call-up will be announced on September 27th, at the CBF headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro. The players will perform on October 7th, in São Paulo, where they will train at CT Joaquim Grava, from Corinthians, until the 9th, when they will head to Santiago.

Brazil will face Chile away from home in the on October 10th and, on the 15th, they will face Peru at the Mané Garrincha Stadium, in Brasília. Currently, with ten points, the Seleção occupies fifth place in the Qualifiers.

The biggest idol in Flamengo's history, Zico made it clear that he will never ask for the club's legendary number 10 shirt to be retired. Although no player in the current squad is using the number, after Gabigol missed this chance, Galinho stated that he is against the idea of ​​preserving the number forever as a form of tribute.

In an interview with the channel “Faaaala, Craque !”, on YouTube, the former player highlighted how satisfying it is for a professional athlete to wear a shirt with such a historic number. Faced with comments about the absence of a player wearing Mengão's number 10, Zico declared his opinion:

“He really doesn't have the number 10. But I will never ask to remove the number, I am against that. If you took Pelé away, for example, you wouldn't be able to play, have the satisfaction of playing. I'm not worried about that. Football is not basketball”, said Galinho.

In May, after a leaked photo in which Gabigol appears wearing the Corinthians shirt, Flamengo imposed a punishment on the attacker, which included a fine and the removal of the iconic number 10 shirt. See the statement issued by the club:

“The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo informs that, after a meeting with the vice-president of football, Marcos Braz, and other directors of the department, the athlete Gabriel Barbosa was fined and informed by the director that he will no longer wear the red-black number 10 shirt in competitions where the number may be changed. ”

Gabigol “inherited” the number after the retirement of Diego Ribas, at the end of 2022. The striker wore the legendary shirt in 72 matches, being a starter in 47 of them. During this period, he scored 22 goals, provided four assists and won the 2024 Campeonato Carioca. After the incident, Gabriel started to wear the number 99 shirt at Flamengo.