Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
The Brazilian Football Confederation launched a fundraising campaign to support the victims and those affected by the floods that devastated the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of the country, killing at least 78 people and displacing about 90,000 people from their homes.
The two main clubs in the regional capital, Porto Alegre, Internacional and Gremio, were directly affected by the devastating floods, as training centers were flooded and stadiums were turned into giant swimming pools.
The Brazilian Federation announced the creation of a platform to collect donations, and prominent players participated in this campaign, such as Vinicius Junior, the Real Madrid striker, the young man Andric (17 years old), Danilo, the team captain during the last two matches for the Seleção, the currently injured Neymar, and coach Dorival Junior.
Former players who shone in southern Brazilian clubs joined the campaign, led by Ronaldinho (44 years old), who hails from Porto Alegre and who began his career at Gremio, Dunga, 60 years old (midfielder and former national team coach), and Paulo Roberto Falcao (70), from… Among several players who wore the Internacional shirt.
The two clubs, whose rivalry is usually intense, also joined forces to skip this grant.
Uruguayan international Sergio Rocher, Internacional’s goalkeeper, told local radio Gaucha: “We are all on the same side,” while he was distributing food to those affected by the floods alongside his Ecuadorian teammates Ener Valencia and Thiago Maya, the former French Lille midfielder.
At the Gremio club, which was famous for its blue, white and black “tricolor”, goalkeeper Caique made several trips on his jet ski to rescue people isolated by the floods that turned many streets into rivers in Porto Alegre.
Diego Costa (35 years old), who acquired Spanish citizenship and defended the “La Roja” team in 24 international matches, and wore the English Chelsea and Spanish Atletico Madrid shirts, and who currently plays for Gremio, donated four jet skis.
The team’s coach, Renato Gaucho, was evacuated from the hotel where he was staying due to the floods, and the Brazilian Confederation postponed the matches of the 11 teams in the state of Rio Grande do Sul that compete in professional tournaments, from the first to the fourth divisions.
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