What was happening on the field was secondary. Fluminense and Bangu faced off this Saturday at Xerém's "maçarico," but the fans' eyes were on Fred and Thiago Neves, who reunited in a battle on the sidelines. Former striker Fred came out ahead in the first encounter between the now coaches, with a 2-1 score.
Despite the heat and early weekend time, many tricolor fans gathered the energy to get out of bed and visit the stadium named after Marcelo Vieira, a club legend and former left-back for Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team.
Fred highlighted the friendship he has with Thiago Neves before the match. According to him, the two are like brothers, their families are very close friends and keep in touch to this day. He stated that a get-together was already planned between them, with the kids, and that the atmosphere would be one of seriousness, but with lots of respect and affinity.
