Top 10 Flamengo Players Of All Time
Flamengo is considered to be one of the most successful clubs in Brazil with more than 44 million followers worldwide. It is a great honour for players to be a part of this prestigious club once in their careers, especially young Brazilians. Over the course of time, we have seen some of the best legends play for this club and it is still a home for future legends of the game. Flamengo is now 8 times Champion of Brazil Serie A, the recent years have been successful for the club as they won 2 Serie A titles in succession.
This club has been the home of many legends of Brazil and is a pride for the people of Brazil. Football in South America is much different compared to Europe but it does not mean they are not passionate about the sport. The people of Brazil are more into football than many of the European countries out there and Brasil also has the most number of World Cup titles.
We will learn about the 10 different players who played in Flamengo and went to make it big.
Best 10 Flamengo Football Players:
10: Adílio de Oliveira Gonçalves
A player who started his career with the Flamengo youth team and managed to make it big. Adilio played for Flamengo for a total of 12 years making 611 appearances for the club. He is a complete champion and a true legend for this club. The player manages to win everything in reach of him. Adilio won the Brazilian Serie A 4 times, the Rio State Championship 4 times and the Intercontinental Cup. A career that many young Brazilians dream of is the reality of Adilio.
9: Léo Moura
A right-back who spent a decade in Flamengo. Moura played for many other clubs in his career too and managed to lift 3 titles with Flamengo including the Serie A. The player has played a total of 505 matches with the team and was the captain for them. Being a right back he added immense value to the team. In 2020 after enjoying a long career Moura decided to tie his shoes and now is enjoying his retirement life and he deserves it.
8: Romário
It might be surprising for many people to see Romário in this position. The reason behind it is that the time he spent was much less compared to other players on the list. Romário is a complete legend of football and has proved himself in many clubs that he has played for. He won many titles with Brazil including 3 Copa America and a World Cup. Romário has earned himself a place among the list of Pele, Cruyff, Maradona and a few others. He is a lethal striker and one who has scored more than 1000 goals in his career. His list of achievements for Romario is long and astonishing.
Romário is still an inspiration to millions of people who are trying to make it big in Brasil.
7:Andrade:
Andrade is the key to the golden era of Flamengo. A perfect defensive midfielder who was a wall for the opposite teams. The current defensive midfielders can learn so much from watching his style of play as he was way ahead of his time. Andrade played for 11 years from 1977 to 1988 having 569 appearances for the club.
The big achievement for the player would be the titles he won with this club. Andrade won the Brazilian League (Serie A) 3 times along with 7 other titles for the club. There are very few players in the history of Flamengo who would have such a decorated trophy cabinet as Andrade.
6: Dida
Dida is a legend of the game who is idolised by the idols themselves. He has the second most goals for Flamengo with 264 goals and making 357 appearances. The attacking midfielder spent almost 11 years with Flamengo and won many titles including 2 Carioca Championships and also won the World Cup with Brasil. Dida true Brasilian legend of old times.
5: Leandro
Leandro is a player who started and ended his career with Flamengo. A great full-back that was an essential part of the title-winning Flamengo team of the 80s. He has played with some of the biggest players such as Zico and Junior. The player spent more than 12 years with Flamengo and had 417 appearances for the team. Leandro won many titles with Flamengo making him among the top legends of this great club.
Its trophy cabinet of Leandro includes titles such as 3x Serie A, 5x Carioca Championships, 1x Intercontinental Cup, 1x Copa Do Brasil, 1x Copa Libertadores and 1x Copa União. A huge achievement for Leandro as he is now part of the history of this great club.
He is Flamengo's second all-time leading scorer, behind only Zico, who idolized Dida growing up. Thanks for everything!
— Flamengo (@Flamengo_en) March 26, 2021
📸: Arquivo Museu dos Esportes pic.twitter.com/eC5Rxjdf9u
4: Tita
Tita is one of the most successful brazil players of his time. He has played for several clubs in Brasil and also enjoyed success in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen. He has been an important part of the Flamengo team as his contributions brought more glory to the club. Tita has played 391 matches with Flamengo and has scored 135 goals for Flamengo. He was more of an attacking midfielder than a striker which made him unique from other players on the pitch. He won 3x Brazil League with Flamengo along with the 2x Copa Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup.
3: Cantarele
One of the biggest icons in the history of the club who has played almost all his career with Flamengo. He spent almost 16 years with the club and even retired from the same club. A player who was loyal and had certainly led a great journey for Flamengo. The trophy cabinet of Cantarele is unmatched as he was a crucial part of the Golden Era of Flamengo and he has seen the rise and fall of the club. Cantarele has won the Brazilian Serie A 4 times with Flamengo along with 6x Campeonato Carioca, 1x Copa Libertadores and 1x Intercontinental Cup.
Cantarele was a goalkeeper for Flamengo and the saves he made really helped the team reach its Golden Age. He is the pride and hero of Flamengo fans.
Cantarele, o goleiro que mais vezes atuou a camisa do Flamengo pic.twitter.com/JiBXltzO1Z
— Dryzinho (@Videos_Dryzinho) November 26, 2022
2: Júnior
The most famous player of Flamengo has to be Leo Júnior. A complete delight to watch him on the field. Júnior has the most appearances in the history of Flamengo with 857 matches in his career. He won the Serie A 4 times with them along with 1x Copa Libertadores and 1x Intercontinental Cup. He played in two different positions in his career which are as a full-back and a midfielder. He was good at both these positions and was flawless on the pitch. A good player and a great captain of Flamengo.
We can also say that Júnior is one of the best full-backs in the history of Brazil A legend for Flamengo and Brasil.
🇧🇷 Sócrates celebrates scoring against Italy along with Zico, Falcão and Júnior, 5 July 1982
— 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝘾𝙐𝙋 𝙍𝙀𝙒𝙄𝙉𝘿 ⏪ (@WorldCup_Rewind) January 11, 2023
📸 IMAGO/Colorsport pic.twitter.com/9jFT1Q0V04
1: Zico
The greatest legend of Brasil who did not win a World Cup. Zico was the ultimate striker who has records which are still difficult for top strikers to break. He scored 70 goals in 56 games for Flamengo, which amounts to more than 50% goals the team scored in that year. The player has scored some of the most beautiful free-kicks in the history of the sport. Zico is among the very few players who have scored a hat trick of free kicks in a match. He was a very skilled player and was the reason why Flamengo reached the Golden Era. The period of 1980-87 can be considered the Golden Era of Flamengo.
Zico was the top scorer for Flamengo for 3 consecutive years when they manage to win the most Serie A in their history. If it was not for Zico this achievement wouldn’t have been possible as goals win matches and he scored many goals for them. Zico has some records to his name that is still not broken, he is the highest scorer in the history of Flamengo with 508 goals, and he scored the most goals in the Maracana Stadium with 333 goals and a few other records. Zico was also honoured many times for the career he has had by many organizations. He won the Golden Foot Legends award in 2006 and was a part of the most successful players of the last century. After retiring from club football he started his journey as a manager and won a ton of titles for different clubs.
The titles Zico won as a Flamengo player:
1981 Copa Libertadores
1981 Intercontinental Cup
1976 Copa Roca
1980, 1982, 1983 & 1987 Brazilian champion
1977, 1981 & 1982 best South American player
It is not possible to define Zico in words as he was a great player and he deserves to be among the likes of Pele and Maradona.
Honourable Mention:
Gabriel Barbosa:
Gabriel is a complete legend and deserves to have his place in the top legends of Flamengo when he retires. He might not be as good as Zico but he has done much more for the club in recent years. Just like Zico, he scores a lot of goals for Flamengo which helped them win many titles in the last few seasons. He was the top goal scorer for two consecutive seasons in Serie A and was 7 times the top scorer in different competitions. In 5 years Gabriel Barbosa managed to win 8 titles with Flamengo, a huge achievement for a player who is still 26 years old.
There is a long future ahead of him and he has been loyal to the club. Big clubs keep their eyes on Gabriel and he is involved in many rumours about a transfer. He does not give any attention to those things and continues to score goals for Flamengo and win titles. Gabriel will surely be among the legends of Flamengo when he retires.
