ggyes

Brazil is almost like a continent, so rivalries are divided by states. To compare, England has about 56 million inhabitants, while the state of São Paulo alone has 48 million. We have four big teams in the state: São Paulo, Corinthians, Palmeiras, and Santos. Besides Flamengo, which is from Rio de Janeiro but has the largest fanbase in Brazil. However, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, only Flamengo won the Intercontinental Cup in 1981, when Liverpool fielded a team that later admitted to drinking alcohol on the way to the game. So, for Flamengo's direct rivals, not having an Intercontinental or Club World Cup doesn't weigh as heavily. I don't know what the biggest trophy an English team can win is, whether it's the Premier League or the Champions League, but in South America, there's no doubt—it's the Club World Cup. I believe Palmeiras not having a CWC is like all other Big Six teams in England having a PL or CL, except for one. And because of that, it was the biggest dream I had. That's why I said our match against Manchester United was the second biggest game in our history, only behind the game against Chelsea. Now, with 32 teams, the chances of a South American team winning are zero. And at the end of the year, the Intercontinental Cup will return, but now South American teams will have to play three games instead of two, while the European teams play only the final. If it was difficult for a South American team to win before, now, realistically, it's over.

“Palmeiras não tem Mundial” No, we don't. This phrase... It feels good to know that this victory was important for Chelsea, unlike United’s victory in '99 United. Anyway, It must be incredible to break ‘curses’ like this, but for now I can only imagine. In '99 when we lost to United, besides losing the biggest final in the club’s history (along with the final against Chelsea), we still had to hear Beckham say, ‘I’m happy for the victory, but it doesn’t feel like a title. After all, it’s just a match, not a championship.’ And then their former coach, who was a player at the time, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, said he knew how important this game is for South Americans and they ‘just knew they had to make a trip to Japan.’” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave an interview to DAZN Brasil this week. However, despite being seen as the Manchester United manager for the past few years, he spoke a lot about his playing days. Solskjaer talked about the International Cup of 1999, which is still much remembered by Brazilians. Manchester United travelled to Yokohama to face Palmeiras, who’d just won the Copa Libertadores, and beat them 1-0. The former striker admitted that the game wasn’t very important for an English club, but claims to be glad to have helped Roy Keane score the winner. “I remember… as you say, we didn’t look at it as that important,” Solskjaer told DAZN Brasil’s Renato Senise. “I think the team selection from Sir Alex shows that. But I feel… I remember my wife’s words. That ‘you wouldn’t have won 1-0 without your run’. Because I made a run towards the near post, I brought some defenders with me, and we scored the goal. I think it was Roy Keane who scored that goal. And I created that space for him. “The manager took me off at half time. I remember that one. But I still felt I played a big part in that goal. Almost as big as in the 99 final. “And the Palmeiras team, I remember Brazilian players, they were strong and fit. And of course they always have the quality. But we won, so… It’s strange thing. Because I know how big that is for South American teams. But for us, it was just we had to travel to Japan to play a game.”

It's peculiar how some Europeans perceive this trophy. As a Palmeiras fan, if Palmeiras had beaten Chelsea, it would have been by far the best day of my life. What I celebrated when we drew... We get mocked EVERY SINGLE DAY for not having this trophy. No kidding. Since Chelsea lost to our biggest rival, we've been mocked day and night for not having it. We're by far the biggest Brazilian champion, the Brazilian record holder in the Libertadores, one of the biggest Copa do Brasil champions, but except for our fans, few respect us for not having the CWC.