Apart from meticulous tactician, high-quality players, and supportive and loyal fans, a club needs someone to guide the team on the pitch and be the first among equals – to be the leader.Jose Mourinho once said that being a captain and wearing the armband doesn’t mean being a leader. But when you manage to find a true leader in your ranks and put the armband on his arm, you’ve finished a crucial job on the way to success.Many still don’t quite believe in the power of motivation and pep talks, and that those can beat rivals’ pure quality on the pitch. Many didn’t think Fluminense could knock out the Champions League runners-up Inter Milan in the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16.Silva after smashing Inter: ‘I’ve been thinking about AC Milan the whole time’However, what they didn’t count on was Flu’s natural leader and captain, Thiago Silva, after whose pre-game speech there was no chance the Brazilian side wouldn’t win.Once he began talking, his voice was trembling. He was trying to hold back tears.”Don’t wait until after the game to say what you could have done. No! I get emotional because, you’ll understand this…””In 2014, I was playing the World Cup in Brazil. And on one of the days off, I went home. My stepfather arrived – the person who made me become Thiago Silva. He was sick, and I didn’t know how serious the illness was. I didn’t know.”Inter are UCL runners-up, but can they do it in scorching US sun against 40-year-old Monster?”I returned to the national team, and the World Cup ended the way it ended. He was hospitalized, and I returned to Paris. I started the preseason. And in one of the first matches of the season, my wife called me and said: ‘Your father passed away.'”What am I trying to say with this? I didn’t go to see him at the hospital because I thought he’d be fine.”Thiago Silva’s emotional pre-game speech for his Fluminense teammates about the 2014 World Cup will hit you right in the heart. 🥺🇧🇷 This one will leave you in tears 👇 pic.twitter.com/QbrgobJ9qe— chris 🇧🇷 (@crsxsa) July 3, 2025 Suddenly, Silva let his emotions come to the surface. His voice became shaky and started cracking, while tears ran down his face.”What do I want to say? Don’t leave for later what you can do now. Don’t leave it for later because there might not be time!””Seize the moment, enjoy it! Enjoy it with joy, but also with responsibility. That said, we need to finish the match with 11 players. Don’t make this unfair. Be fair, but compete. Compete, dammit! We all need to compete together! May God bless us. Let’s go!”##NAJAVA_MECA_9002219##After hearing this, Fluminense’s triumph doesn’t come as a surprise. It was inevitable. It was just. And Silva’s teammates felt that.Nevertheless, to maintain that feeling and introduce it to younger generations, football needs more people like the Brazilian. He’s 40 and his career nears its end. Hopefully, he won’t be one of the last Mohicans able to ignite the fire in teammates’ hearts, but a role model for the youth.Because football calls for leaders. Leaders like Thiago.
