On the night of a sinful Santos, Athletico is humiliated by Vitória

The unexpected happened. “I am in danger like every person who lives. And the only thing that awaits me is exactly the unexpected” (Clarice Lispector).

Goalkeeper Santos, 36 years old, in the 11th minute of the game, looking like a teenager, made one of the goalkeeper’s fatal mistakes that immobilizes the entire defense, which is the rebound of a defendable ball into the area. As if passing with his hands, he bounced it off Renê’s feet, 1-0.

Soon, Santos, will return to the game script. And it won’t be good. The consequence of Santos’ failure was not limited to the goal. From then on, Athletico began to fall apart. Their greatest possession of the ball was useless, because Leozinho and Mendoza were useless, who isolated Viveros, again.

The midfield was dispersive. Luiz Gustavo, in particular. By attracting the command to himself, he limited himself to rotating and playing a side game. This was when he didn’t fail to mark, as happened in the 49th minute of this initial stage, allowing Erick to make a play on the edge of the area and shoot into the right corner of Santos’ goal, 2-0.

Athletico returned with João Cruz and Vargas, without Leozinho and Derik and even showed signs of life. In three corners taken by João Cruz, goalkeeper Lucas Arcanjo saved Vitória. But Santos failed again. In the 15th minute of the second, he went out to cut the ball from a corner and missed the punch. Renê made it 3-0.

The Hurricane emptied itself again, showing that it does not have the emotional strength to react. With Zapelli and Dudu on the field, he remained inoperative, spending almost 15 minutes without taking a single shot on goal. Until the humiliation came: with the last ball of the game, in the 47th minute, Marinho made it 4-0.

Although Santos’ failures were the immediate cause for Athletico’s failure and elimination, they do not contain one truth: his results are being overvalued, without analyzing the reasons. The victory over Internacional was the result of the mistakes of the gaucho defenders. And about Vitória, in Baixada, the goal missed by Renê and a save by Santos.

Odair Hellmann, too, has his sins. There is no reasonable explanation for insisting on Leozinho and Mendoza as starters. Leozinho is a lighthouse keeper and Mendoza is lazy. It is inexplicable that a definitive solution is not sought with João Cruz, Dudu and, now, Vargas.

More than humiliating, it was a frustrating defeat, which is one in which fans believe in all the professionals who then disappoint them. This elimination of Athletico is a disaster, in a tournament that is accessible even to the last placed teams in the Brasileirão such as Santos and Inter.