Rogério Ceni — Searching, As Manager, The Glory He Had As Goalkeeper
Rogério Ceni was the complete player—complete being a word that bodes him well. In the position he once played, where it is basically necessary to do great saves, he was one of the best in the Brazilian football. But the number 01 wanted more, and never settled for less. His thirst for glory, may it be professional or personal, has never ceased.
In such “limited” position, Ceni still distinguished himself. Beyond his colossal saves, he would find pinpoint passes with the foot, just like he did playing out of defence. He had, also, above average leadership, much due to his role and vision on the pitch. But that wasn’t enough for him. He started to perfect himself in direct free kicks and penalty kicks. In the end, he scored 131 goals —with the awaited 100th goal, almost poetic, against his bitter rivals Corinthians.
It all became true because, even with his numbers, deeds, titles and World Cups on his resumé (2002 and 2006 championships), Ceni never accepted any offer by other teams. If it wasn’t a contract renewal proposal by São Paulo, it would be thoroughly rejected. This way, he went on to use the same jersey for 25 years, always carrying the same glorious shield in its chest. Remarkable.
Me or any other são-paulino are unable to decipher the real importance of the Mito — Myth, a nickname that doesn’t need to be explained — , but I’m sure that we’ve always held him in great regard as we should. Each and every sign of gratitude shown to the biggest idol in the history of a giant club like São Paulo will never be enough, as his numbers and presence is seen, especially in the worst moments.
In 2017, Rogério Ceni began his career as a football manager in his favoured club. He studied and inspired himself in the biggest and most successful coaches. Ceni won’t deny that Juan Carlos Osorio, now manager of the Mexican national team and former São Paulo manager in 2015, was one of his greatest influences.
With an attack-minded strategy, he had a good start in his manager tenure but was sacked just months in due to internal pressure by the club board after some less than impressive results. Having left São Paulo in July, 7 months after his arrival, he went on to spend the rest of the year studying until he was announced by Fortaleza, in the beginning of 2018, as the Tricolor de Aço new manager. Now, managing a Second Division team, the team from the northeast region of Brazil is, as of July 2018, the Série B leader and is impressing fans and pundits with an offensive, fast and well trained football.
Yes, it is just the beginning of his managing career — we hope that one day he would come back to manage São Paulo — , but Rogério Mücke Ceni, an idol and giant, is already looking for the top just as he always looked for it as a player. Only this time he’d be managing his beloved team, instead of playing on the pitch.
