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WHEN ONE JOB JUST ISN’T ENOUGH
Across a playing career that lasted a quite astonishing 29 years, the Brazilian footballer Marcelinho Paraíba represented enough clubs to fill two different golf bags, including spells of varying length and distinction at well known European outfits such as Marseille, Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin and Trabzonspor. Capped five times for his country and nicknamed after the state in which he was born to distinguish him from the plethora of other Marcelinhos who seem to roll off the jogo bonito assembly line with monotonous regularity, the 49-year-old midfielder represented 26 different teams as a player but crucially never attempted to line up for two separate clubs at the same time. Marcelinho the manager, however, is a far more ambitious man and in the space of 24 hours over the weekend was unveiled as the new Mister of two different teams, from two different divisions in two different Brazilian states.
Boasting a work ethic that would put the combined forces of self-professed workaholics Marcelo Bielsa, Pep Guardiola and Eddie Howe combined to shame, Marcelinho was announced as the new manager of Brazilian sides Americano-RJ and Nacional de Patos over the weekend, prompting no end of confusion among fans of both clubs, not least because according to Football Daily’s old friend Google Maps, their respective “estádios”, the Godofredo Cruz and José Cavalcanti, are separated by 1,331 miles, a journey that would take Marcelinho 32 hours to drive, Brazil’s famously busy and often unpaved roads and motorways permitting.
Despite speculation that Marcelinho’s job-combo was an error, the explanation was reasonably innocent and there will be no need for a professional lookalike to take his place in the technical area of one of his clubs in scenes vaguely reminiscent of the mildly amusing 1993 Hollywood romcom Dave, starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Marcelinho, famed for his colourful hair and even more arresting taste in footwear, will only take charge of struggling Nacional for the handful of remaining games of the regional championship of his home state in Paraíba, before directing his focus to Americano-RJ’s pre-season preparations for their assault on the second division of the Rio state championship.
“I am here to tell you how happy I am to be in charge of Americano in the Carioca Second Division in 2025,” he parped. “We’re going in search of our goal to access the elite of Carioca football.” At the time of writing, his ambitions for his short spell in charge of Nacional are not known but one presumes this enthusiastic servant of two masters hopes to help them avoid the drop.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Rob Smyth from 8pm GMT for hot MBM coverage of Manchester City 1-2 Real Madrid in their Bigger Cup playoff first leg. And Michael Butler will be on clockwatch duty for the rest of the night’s action.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I don’t think it was wrong. We thought that Viní was the winner that year. It doesn’t mean we don’t respect Rodri because he is a fantastic player” – Carlo Ancelotti insists it was completely normal behaviour for Real Madrid to collectively throw their toys out of the pram and boycott the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
Thanks to Alexandra Topping for her emotional article about Goodison Park (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition). It moved me to tears. As a 63-year-old Falkirk fan, I can still remember being lifted over the turnstile as a child by my dad at our former ground, Brockville Park. Indeed, when he passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 90, I began my eulogy at his funeral by recounting those days and then reassuring those present that, as lifelong Falkirk fans, they could relax as I was used to crying in public, which I then duly did” – Gary McGregor.
We see your FA Cup and Scottish Cup giant-killings (yesterday’s Football Daily) and raise you the Canadian equivalent. Cavalry FC play at an equestrian arena in Calgary, Alberta, and didn’t exist as recently as 2018. We were drawn to face Mexican giants Pumas Unam in the Concacaf Cup this past Thursday. The first leg had to take place 700km away from said arena in slightly warmer Langford, British Columbia, as current temperatures in Calgary hover around -20C. Most Cavalry fans couldn’t make the journey. We won” – Jonathan Alphonsus.
Having started supporting home-city club Newcastle United in 1953, I abandoned them after the last takeover. All I’ve got left are Berwick Rangers, once the only English team in the Scottish League and currently not far off the bottom of the Lowland League. A framed certificate of my loyalty-proving 25 £1 shares in the Borderers hangs on my toilet wall” – Nigel Robson.
Hoping to be the first of 1,057 pedants to tell David Fryer (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) that Grantham Town’s most likely destination is the United Counties League Premier Division North, known for sponsorship reasons as the GCE Hire Fleet Limited United Counties Football League Premier Division North. With 11 points to safety and an extra game played, you might need to get used to it” – Alan Terlep (and no others).
The size of the goals on Hackney Marshes (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) were as much of a lottery as the number of players you’d have at kick-off or what time the ref might turn up. It all depended how much rubbish was in the metal holes and how far down you could push the goalposts. The more rubbish, the higher (and more precarious) the crossbar. And the better the excuse when you got beaten from distance” – Dan Ashley.
Send letters to [email protected]. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day is … Gary McGregor, who gets a copy of David Squires’s brilliant new book: Chaos in the Box. We have more copies to give away this week but if you’re not lucky enough to win one you can order your own in the Guardian Bookshop. There are loads of other great tomes waiting to be added to your basket, too, so get shopping! Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
