Adilson Barros: Sitting in the press box, we all looked at one another. Did that really just happen? I spoke to Neymar afterwards about the goal, and he said that when he was running at goal, he wasn't thinking about anything at all. The only thing going through his mind was to get closer to the goal.
He was successful with Santos over two periods; he scored a hell of a lot of goals for us. When he scored for Flamengo that night, he didn't even want to celebrate. But despite the fact that we ended up losing the game, I, and probably the majority of Santos fans who were at Vila Belmiro that night, did not leave the stadium upset. What we had seen was a show. It was art, it was theatre. This is how we all want to see football played.
Even Neymar can't explain how he did it; no one else will be able to either. Gus Rachels for Bleacher ReportRicardo Agostinho: The goal was pure genius. Remember that Neymar wore the No. 11 shirt for Santos. The No. 11 is always a player of great technical quality, like Pepe [played for Santos for 15 years, as well as the Brazilian national side, where he won the 1958 and 1962 World Cup titles]. Neymar is, and always was, so comfortable on the ball, and he just kept moving forward with it. There really was no other goal like it.
Then Thiago Neves quickly got a second, and all of a sudden we were back in the game. After Elano's missed penalty and Deivid's equaliser, we went in level at the break. Arouca: At half-time in the dressing room, we were attentive. We had conceded the equaliser right before the break, and Flamengo were becoming more productive. We needed to get back to the tempo we had started the match and, soon after the restart, scored a goal and once again we had the advantage.
In terms of preparation, we treated this game just like any other. The coach [Vanderlei Luxemburgo] sent us on to the pitch with a game plan and we stuck to it. When Santos made it 3-0 after only 25 minutes, we looked at each other. We didn't know what had happened, but we didn't deviate from our plan. When we were only 2-0 down we missed two great chances to get back into the game. We knew that more chances would come, and there was still so much time left on the clock. That was proven even as the first half wore on. Rafael failed to hold a cross from Luiz Antonio, and Ronaldinho scored our first.
We knew he was different and needed to play on the biggest stage. There is no bigger stage than Barcelona. I am 48 years old and go to at least 40 Santos games every year. I have seen several greats pull on the famous Santos shirt; there aren't many that are on the same level as Neymar or who are capable of reaching the heights that he surely will in his career. Ted Sartori: 2011 was an incredible year for Neymar. It was when he started to appear more in the international reckoning and, with a player of that talent, it is only natural that transfer gossip and interest from other clubs will intensify the more exposure he has.
He would bring music with him, which he would always be playing, and he arrived at the club with a happiness and readiness to join in. In terms of his body movement and style, he is very similar to Ronaldinho. The way he can shape himself, the comfort he feels on the ball. In terms of dribbling ability, he could perhaps be compared to Garrincha, but he plays far more centrally and is far more of a goal threat.
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Renato Abreu (Flamengo midfielder): These are two of the biggest teams in Brazil, and were possibly the two best at that time. There were a lot of great players on the pitch besides Ronaldinho and Neymar. We [Flamengo] had Thiago Neves, Deivid, Leo Moura. They [Santos] had Ganso, Borges, players that you can't afford to take your eye off. Alexandre VidalIn addition, we were undefeated at that time; we were on a run that had lasted about three months.
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Taking into consideration the game in its entirety, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The match was at the home of Santos; on the other side of the pitch was Neymar, who was in great form, but even so we managed to turn the game around and win. It was sensational. At the same time as you think the match is lost, this day was just different. We also had a very good team, and we knew that we could change the scenario.
Flamengo vs Santos, live stream (score), Results, Fixtures Santos vs Flamengo Live Stream of result, Lineups, fixtures, Live Stream stats Flamengo vs Santos today Kick-off Time Match, List of