From Baixada to Ninho: the battles of Hugo Souza, Neneca, to shine in Flamengo | Flamengo

In the silence of that hug, there was a lot of meaning. Hugo’s debut by professionals occurred without his father, Jorge, who died in March from a massive heart attack, could not see. It was the goalkeeper’s first game without the watchful eye of his father.

– I knew why he was crying. He was excited, happy, for everything that happened in the game. But he also cried for his father, who was the biggest supporter, the person who worked the most for Hugo, Rosilene told ge.

+ Star of the game, Hugo Souza saves Flamengo and is moved to remember his father: “First time without him”

Hugo dedicated the award to his father after the game. Jorge was a former soccer player, he played for smaller teams in Rio de Janeiro and had a dream of having a child. To do this, he spared no effort in the midst of difficulties. And he left an even greater legacy for the heir, which goes beyond football:

– Hugo’s style is all his father’s. The quiet, the calm, the smiling way. The legacy that his father left was very good – Rosilene completed.

Acclaimed by the fans and the press for his good performance, Hugo saw in the match against Palmeiras the realization of a dream that began as a child, but full of difficulties.

Hugo and his family are from Duque de Caxias, in Baixada Fluminense. Evangelical, the boy played drums at the church the family attended and became the leader of the teen group for five years. This foundation has shaped it to this day. After the match against Palmeiras, the first thing Rosilene did was go to church to thank her.

At the age of four, Hugo made the first test to be a footballer. Until then, he hadn’t shown much interest in the sport. In the futsal screen, he played on the line and did not move anyone. But when he went to goal …

– The director called Jorge and said: “Your son is a born goalkeeper” – Rosilene recalled.

Hugo’s first club was, ironically, Flamengo’s biggest rival. At Vasco, Hugo earned the nickname Neneca, given by a director in reference to the Brazilian champion goalkeeper in 1978 by the Guaraní.

The nickname took a form in which the whole family became the Neneca family: Jorge were Nenecão, Rosilene, Doña Neneca and Lara, the younger sister, Nenequinha.

However, Vasco’s period was one of tribulations. Jorge was unemployed and balanced with some spikes. Hugo and his parents had the help of family and friends, who contributed as they could: clothes, a walk, football boots, money for snacks, tickets, etc. They all embarked on the child’s dream.

Rosilene, Dona Lena, admits that she was never very interested in soccer. But that didn’t stop her from fighting with her son. Sometimes it was she who faced the long journey to São Januário.

– I was carrying a bag full of children’s clothes, with Hugo in my hand and Lara in my lap. I took them both because training was at 7pm. We would arrive at 5 in the afternoon because it was dinner, for Hugo’s dinner. He always brought something to share with his sister. We stayed until 10 at night waiting for the training to finish, and we walked back, crossing Avenida Brasil to catch the bus – said Lena.

Hugo received an allowance to live in Basque. He even left the club, passed through Fluminense and came back. In the end, when the aid was cut the second time, the family decided to withdraw it permanently.

The goalkeeper was left without a club until Flamengo appeared. When base officials learned that Neneca was available, training at a school in Irajá, they contacted the parents and invited the boy.

Hugo arrived at Flamengo at the age of nine. He spent time in futsal, but soon auditioned for the field and completed the transition. In the club, he found refuge, despite the difficulties that the family was still going through. Money has always been counted. Rosilene says that she learned to perceive a gesture in Hugo when he saw something he wanted to eat, but couldn’t: he lowered his head and left. But he never asked.

– My son had in Flamengo what we didn’t have at home to give. Even Flamengo’s teeth took care of Flamengo. Hugo fell and broke his two front teeth, and Flamengo had them restored – Rosilene summarized.

The route from Duque de Caxias to Gávea -and, later, to Ninho do Urubu- continued to be sacrificial. At age 12, seeing that the family could no longer spend so much money on tickets, Hugo asked his mother if he could go alone.

– You trust me? – Asked the porter to Rosilene.

With a sunken heart, the mother allowed the child to begin the entire journey alone, on the condition that she notify him when he arrived. Hugo left home at 3:40 in the morning.

A while later, with the afternoon training, the father of a friend from Flamengo began to take a walk. Hugo needed to be at the marked location by 1 pm on time. Sometimes, to get there, the child had the transportation of a bus driver; in others, he went on foot with his father from afar.

– When Jorge saw that it was going to take a long time and that he was not going to arrive, he said: “Put your foot, go ahead!” And I saw the car stop in the distance and Hugo got in.

Little by little things got better. With the help of the base director, Carlos Noval, Hugo managed to find accommodation in Ninho do Urubu, where he stayed for four years, until he was 18. The technician, by the way, is pointed out as one of the people who most helped the goalkeeper in Flamengo.

Always treated as a promise at the base, he was seen as a goalkeeper with great potential. With the improvement of the financial situation, he began to live near Ninho do Urubu. In the field, however, the battles continue.

Hugo has even been called up for the main Brazilian team, with Tite, when the coach sought to summon the youngsters to ride them. In Flamengo, he began to stand out at the base. Tall (1.98m), agile and with good feet, he also racked up calls for the base teams.

However, when he went to the professional, Hugo had to be patient. He is the fourth goalkeeper in the hierarchy, behind Diego Alves, César and Gabriel Batista. He even received proposals from abroad, but Flamengo refused to give it to Boavista, from Portugal. With the outbreak of Covid-19 in the squad, he had his first opportunity against Palmeiras and did not disappoint.

+ Flamengo rejects loan proposal from goalkeeper Hugo Souza

The performance in São Paulo, as well as the shout of emotion, made Hugo one of the characters in the last round of the Brazilian Championship. But the goalkeeper and his family know that the journey is just beginning, and that the battles of the past have made him strong enough to face the future.