Pedro Martins says goodbye to Cruzeiro and cites greatest pride < In Attack

Pedro Martins published a farewell message to Cruzeiro this Friday (26/4). The former football director of Sociedade Anônima do Futebol (SAF) Celeste accepted the invitation to take on the same role at Vasco.

During the farewell text, Martins listed some difficulties encountered by the SAF board. He stated that Cruzeiro was completely devastated by previous administrations and the reality was at odds with the history built over the years.

“The club we found inside Tocas da Raposa 1 and 2 did not represent the size and history of this institution. The disregard for structure and management, the lack of respect for employees and the lack of future perspective scared us as much as the size of the debt that was left. Even if informally and with a series of ‘fires’ to put out, in January 2022 a pact was made: we would rebuild the club on the premise that no one would destroy Cruzeiro again, ever again.”

– Pedro Martins, former football director at Cruzeiro

The manager had been at Cruzeiro since January 3, 2022 and assembled the squad that was champion of Series B of the Brazilian Championship that year. Furthermore, he had a direct influence on the team that won a place in the Copa Sudamericana in 2023.

He was the first and only football director of the ‘Ronaldo era’ at Cruzeiro. Paulo André assumed the role on an interim basis until a new professional was chosen.

Full text of Pedro Martins’ farewell to Cruzeiro

“When I was invited by Ronaldo, Paulo André and Gabriel Lima to work at Cruzeiro I felt extremely honored and challenged by the scenario that awaited us.

The club we found inside Tocas da Raposa 1 and 2 did not represent the size and history of this institution, the disregard for structure and management, the lack of respect for employees and the lack of future perspective scared us as much as the size of the debt that was left. Even if informally and with a “series of fires” to put out, in January 2022 a pact was made: we would rebuild the club on the premise that no one would destroy Cruzeiro again, ever again. Respect for the club’s size would come through its organization, ambition would be built with financial responsibility and administrative rationality, the pride and honor of the blue nation would no longer be impacted by police pages.

Putting this objective on paper is relatively easy, this speech is even beautiful for those in love and for the press. It connects, engages and initially even generates fan partners. Carrying out this task requires tremendous resilience, detachment from personal interests and connecting absurdly competent people. The beauty of football lies in the passion, instability and imponderability of this game. No matter how contradictory it may be, we are always looking for a right answer to victory, the shortest path to success or a quick remedy to lessen the pain.

Within the uncertainties that have appeared all these years, suffering from the pain of defeats and eliminations, we always opt for the beauty of the future. The sustainability of this club is the only possible path to constant success.

The act of following a budget, investing in the long term and always fighting with financial reality is a gesture of respect for Cruzeiro. The fact of prioritizing investment in infrastructure, providing similar working conditions for all football categories at the club and recovering motivation in the work environment is a gesture of respect for people. The words project, process and planning have been misinterpreted a few times in football, but there is nothing more powerful than competent people working towards a common dream. We managed to build this, a rare fact in this immediate industry.

The union of lives, beliefs and values ​​allowed Cruzeiro to defeat opponents that go beyond the field, it modernized thoughts, broke paradigms and reduced the financial abyss that exists in front of competitors. It is undeniable that this trajectory has had fundamental mistakes and lessons learned, the comfort is that this knowledge remains within Toca da Raposa. There is nothing stronger than an institution that learns and teaches, this goes beyond us passengers.

I’m leaving for a new club, but I would like to thank you for the opportunity to have had Cruzeiro in my life. I am not only proud of my sporting achievements, but of understanding that I gave myself body and soul to a sensational story.”