A Day (Well, Two) at the Beach

By: Brian | May 20th, 2008

Two Werder Brazilians, two beaches, two hemispheres – a virtual tale of Good vs. Bad.

diego beach

The Good

Brazilians will play on any surface won’t they? Favela back alleys, schoolyard dirt patches, whatever horrible pitch they’re on tomorrow in Moscow, and of course sand. Typically, the moment the curtain falls on the last match of season, professional footballers are on their way to Maldives to begin their holiday, especially with a summer jammed full of international fixtures. Diego made it as far as the pristine, sandy beaches of a lake near exotic Essen.

Team “Diego & Friends” ended the day 4:2 winners over the German National Beach Soccer Team. The whole endeavor was a fund raiser for the Gol Amigo project that Diego has supported for a number of years now, bringing aid to disadvantaged youth in Brazil. Included in the “& Friends” portion of the squad were Werder teammates Naldo, and Owo, in addition to Bundesliga Brazilians Dede, Rafinha, and Tinga. Also quite possibly present was best bud Robinho, no doubt chatting about joining forces on a team on a slightly larger scale than a sun drenched charity kick around.

Team Brazil was coached by none other than Thomas Schaaf, who would be the last person I could imagine directing a team of dynamic, effervescent, beach footballers. Well, maybe second to last after…say…Sam Allardyce. Kudos to Diego (and his compatriots) for bringing this kind of event to their adopted homeland. Not something we see all that much nowadays.

The Bad

Meanwhile near a beach halfway around the world, Carlos Alberto, of Werder club record transfer fee fame, was officially loaned to Botafogo for the next 13 months. A training ground bust up in Bremen was followed by a training ground bust up at Sao Paulo whilst on loan there. We’ll have more to say on this matter here at the Werder Offside in the future I’m sure, but the situation really can’t get any worse from this point out. Here’s hoping he doesn’t pummel a teenager outside a Rio McDonald’s.