Did you know? Fluminense’s top scorer scored his record number of goals against the Alianza team | fluminense

You probably know that Waldo, with 319 goals, is the top scorer in Fluminense’s history. But you may not know that the goalscorer has a strong connection with the city of Lima. It was there where he scored his record number of goals with the Tricolor shirt and left the country “impressed” by beating a team that included players from Alianza Lima, next Wednesday’s opponent in the Conmebol Libertadores.

The story begins with Fluminense’s trip to Peru in 1956. It was common in those years for clubs to travel to other countries in the middle of the season and play friendlies or international tournaments. In the case of the tricolor delegation, three friendlies were scheduled: against Universitario, Alianza Lima and a combined selection between the two teams. The scores were as follows:

• 04/07/1956 — Universitário 3 x 1 Fluminense — Lima National Stadium;
• 04/11/1956 — Alianza Lima 2 x 4 Fluminense — Lima National Stadium;
• 04/14/1956 — Alianza-Universário Selection 1 x 6 Fluminense — Lima National Stadium.

Waldo was the main star of the tour. Much because of the decisive game of this triangular. But first, it is necessary to contextualize. Fluminense debuted in the country being defeated by Universitario, which was portrayed as “worrying” by the press at the time. In the following game, an imposing rout against Alianza Lima, which left the Peruvians “impressed”.

So, a “final” atmosphere was created for the decisive game in Lima. According to Jornal dos Sports, the selection included five players from Alianza Lima and six from Universitario. The publication highlights that the lineup represented “the strength of the Peruvian team itself” and the expectation was to “demand a lot from the Brazilians”.

Fluminense’s coach at the time, Silvio Pirilo, made changes. Goalkeeper Carlos Castilho, who did not participate in the previous two games due to an injury, voted for the starting team, which ended up with: Castilho; Cacá, Pinheiro; Jair, Clovis, Bassu, Telê Santana; Alecir, Waldo, Jair and Quincas.

Then, Waldo would steal the show. He scored five goals in the 6-1 victory, his record in a single match for Fluminense. In total, there were 319 wearing the Tricolor uniform.

Interestingly, despite the overwhelming defeat, the media in Brazil did not highlight the match and the newspaper pages were filled with controversy. Upon leaving Peru, Fluminense planned to travel to Mexico and Ecuador, where they would play more friendlies. However, the order was for the delegation to return to Brazil.

The decision was classified as “strange”. Officially, the demands of the consulates were cited — the one in Ecuador demanded US$18 per athlete and a certificate that no member of the delegation suffered from polio; Mexico’s only asked for medical proof. However, according to Jornal dos Sports, the lack of compliance with an agreement between clubs and businessman caused the trips to be cancelled.

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