If you are older football fan, the key word is ‘Pele’. If you are a bit younger, then it’s ‘Neymar’. For both, the key word is Santos. A famous Brazilian football club, an eight time champion is one of the rare clubs never to be relegated to the second league. But last night, after 111 years of existance it happed. To make things worse, one of their main rivals, Palmeiras, won the title for the record 12th time, while the devastated fans at the 16.000 seater in Santos were crying. The fans fell into despair, despair quickly turned into anger, and soon everything was on fire around the Villa Belmiro stadion. Buses, cars – the vehicle of team’s striker Steven Mendoza’s, everything was set on fire in the vicinity of the stadium, so the military police had to react with tear gas. Of course, the chaos was at the stadium itself, the uprooted chairs ended up on the field where the players choked in tears.❗⚽️🇧🇷 – In Brazil, riots are occurring in the City of Santos following the relegation of the Santos FC football team to the second division of the National Championship.Santos fans are burning cars and buses that drive around Vila Belmiro after the club’s relegation. pic.twitter.com/hfPndgS4e0— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformantofc) December 7, 2023 Santos simply couldn’t survive a run of five games without a win, five games in which they only got two points. They lost to Fortaleza (1:2) after a goal conceded in the 96th minute. Even a point couldn’t save Santos, because Bahia defeated third-placed Atlético Mineiro with 4:1. A win was needed, but it never came. Recovering from a serious knee injury, Neymar was watching the game in Santos gear, but couldn’t not help his beloved team. He posted ‘Saints always Saints. Let’s smile again’ on his Instagram post after the defeat.🚨|The sadness of Santos fans, after seeing their club go down for the FIRST TIME in history.🔜 SHAKER! 😥 pic.twitter.com/lDvTqasw4K— Cristiano World (@CristianoWorld_) December 7, 2023 Since it’s foundation in 1912, Santos has become one of Brazil’s most successful clubs, and his attractive football style of play was the reason a beautiful phrase ‘O Jogo Bonito’ (The Beautiful game) has been used as an association for Brazilian football, or football in general. Santos’ most famous player Pele was the epitome of the phase in his time, while Ronaldinho was also a Brazilian representative of that phrase in his time.Alexandre Gallo, Santos’ football coordinator was the only club professional to give an interview after the team’s relegation to Série B.„Bad historic night. The first thing we have to do is apologize, with great humility, because we are a club of this size, with this shirt, this weight, we know that it is something that really impacts us. We didn’t expect this to happen. We did everything possible and impossible so that we could score more. I apologize to our fans. Our regret is very great, in addition to loving this club very much. We were at the forefront of a process that was already very difficult. We recover points. We won some important points, away games, to get here and have the ability to defend the club in our hands. But unfortunately it didn’t happen“ – said Gallo, hired in August. A new chapter for the famous club begins in the second Brazilian league.##NAJAVA_MECA_7722633##
