They are still days of celebration in São Paulo for Corinthians, the celebrations for the success in the Club World Cup, won last Sunday in Yokohama, began with the team's classic parade on the open bus in the midst of thousands of delirious people and are continuing tirelessly. The championship has already ended for a few weeks and, thus, Timao fans have plenty of time to cheer their players, who brought the cup back to South America after 5 years of European domination.
Among the home idols, one of the most celebrated was certainly Paulinho, probably destined to leave the club given the many requests that have arrived in recent months from Europe (Inter in primis), but the real hero of these days is Paolo Guerrero, the Peruvian striker who signed the feat, first scoring the goal in the semifinals that eliminated the Egyptians of Al-Ahly, and then the decisive goal in the final against Chelsea, with which he gave the second world success in the history of Corinthians . Two goals that brought Guerrero, nicknamed "El Barbaro", into the legend of the Paulista club and attracted the attention of numerous European formations for the January transfer market, including Juve, Chelsea and Schalke 04, but the punta has already made it clear that he has no intention of returning to play in Germany and that he wants to continue his career in Brazil, where he has only been wearing the Timao shirt since last July.
Paolo Guerrero, in fact, is one of the many South American footballers who, after a long experience in the European championships, with, unlike the cases, more or less satisfactions and results, towards the end of their careers return to their home country (or in any case to South America) to search for the latest successes and to try to feel like protagonists again. "El Barbaro" cannot be defined as an old player, having been born on 1 January 1984, but after ten years in the Bundesliga the Peruvian has almost certainly made the best part of his career over the hill, hence the decision to leave the old continent and land to Corinthians in search of glory, a perfect choice so far given that, in addition to the success of the World Cup, he previously proved to be immediately important with his goals also in the league.
In Peru, Guerrero only played in the youth team of his hometown team, and then landed very young, just 17, in Germany purchased from Bayern Munich, the team with which he made his debut in the Bundesliga in 2004. He remained in Munich for two seasons, during which plays a supporting role but wins his first trophies (2 championships in a row) and begins to be called permanently to the national team (where he finds his Bayern teammate Claudio Pizarro). In 2006 he moved to Hamburg, a formation of which he became a fundamental element and an absolute idol among the fans, collecting 159 appearances and 43 goals, which however were not worth any important success. In 6 years, conditioned by a few too many serious injuries and some behavioral vicissitudes, with his goals he makes himself known even outside the German borders, then this summer the will to accept the proposal from Corinthians, fresh winner of the Copa Libertadores and with the goal of the Club World Cup, a choice, as we have seen, which proved to be successful and which paid off the Peruvian striker in a big way.
As mentioned, Guerrero is not the only one to have made this reverse, but in recent years there have been many stories similar to his, some truly novel, in some cases starring players of the absolute level, champions who, after writing beautiful pages in the major leagues of Europe, with careers full of personal triumphs and with their clubs, they choose to end up with big football in the teams that launched them as youngsters, or in any case in their countries of origin. Sometimes, on the other hand, it happens that players for whom a secure future had been envisaged from a very young age in some big European club, then, for various reasons, fail to make contact with the football of the old continent or, in any case, remain there for a few year not impacting as hoped and, after several shirt changes, they come back and demonstrate their strength. Often, in fact, players who disappoint in their European experiences, then, having returned to South America, return to protagonists of great seasons, becoming decisive and pillars of their teams, certainly, it must be said, facilitated by the different rhythms and difficulties they encounter between a Serie A or a Premier and the Brazilian and Argentinian tournaments, certainly technical and qualitative, but with an incomparable level of attention. In short, for one reason or another, there are many examples of players who, to extend their careers and to demonstrate that they are not finished, return to base and, at times, manage to gain satisfaction and treat themselves to joys they would not have could imagine, but only hope.
Among the most recent examples, just look at the home of Fluminense, the team that dominated the last Brasileirao, among whose ranks striker Fred became the protagonist of a crazy championship, top scorer of the tournament with 20 goals in 27 games, returned in Brazil in 2009 after four seasons in France in the super Lyon of those years, with which he won 3 Ligue1 among other things, giving a more than discreet contribution of goals. In the carioca formation, one of the other strikers in the squad is that Rafael Sobis, who arrived in Europe at the age of 20 to break everything, but returned after only two years in Spain to Betis, while further back we find Deco, the now 35-year-old Portuguese playmaker, former Chelsea and one of the few to win the Champions League with two different teams, Porto and Barcelona, always starring. Obviously he's not one of the returning South Americans, but he's one of those who, once he realizes he's given everything in the big European teams, knows he can still make the difference in championships with slower rhythms, such as the Brazilian one.
Remaining in Brazil, Luis Fabiano has just won the Copa Sudamericana with São Paulo, even if the victory was marred by controversy over the aggression suffered by Argentine rivals Tigre during the break, who then never returned to the pitch and the trophy was awarded in an absurd way without the second half being played. O Fabuloso, AC Milan's transfer market dream of a few summers ago, returned a year and a half ago to play for his favorite team, after having exploded in Spain with the Sevilla shirt with which he also lifted two UEFA Cups and a European Super Cup , scoring more than 70 goals in 6 seasons.
The most illustrious names, however, are obviously those of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Adriano, three of the greatest champions of the last 15 years, with the former probably among the best in football history. The Phenomenon finished his career with the Corinthians shirt, spending a couple of seasons, interspersed with a thousand physical and weight problems, during which, despite scoring a few goals and winning a championship, he was never able to return to his level of once and at the umpteenth stop he rightly decided to say enough. Ronaldinho, after leaving Milan, first wore the Flamengo shirt in Brazil, with which he won a Carioca championship, and now that of Atletico Mineiro. In both cases, after a promising start in which he showed numbers and period-style plays at Barcelona, he lost his smile again and was often criticized by his fans, even this year in which he and his team have struggled for the title until a few days from the end. As for Adriano, the former Inter player hasn't been able to resolve his character and psychological problems even by leaving Italy and returning, on various occasions, to his beloved Brazil. After his first comebacks a few seasons ago with the jerseys of San Paolo and Flamengo, the former Emperor tried again in 2011 first with Flamengo and then with Corinthians, successes and happy moments also arrived, but then the usual problems gripped him new, up until a few months ago when, after yet another foolish return with the Rossoneri shirt in Rio, he left the world of football, at least for the moment.
But the Brazilian championship is full of names who remind us of their European experiences, such as the Uruguayan Forlan, who after the negative experience at Inter (which arrived after the great seasons in terms of scoring with Manchester United, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid) is trying to relaunch in the International, the former Manchester City Elano, now at Gremio, but previously triumphant in the Copa Libertadores with Neymar's Santos, or just think that always in Gremio you can find Zè Roberto, now 38 years old, but in the past a key player, as well as the Brazilian national team, of Bayer Leverkusen first and then in the triumphs of Bayern Munich.
Moving to Argentina, the most fascinating stories concern Juan Sebastina Veron and the pair of friends/enemies Juan Roman Riquelme and Martin Palermo. For the "Brujita" Veron the return to his homeland, with the Estudiantes shirt with which he had started his fantastic career, it was something moving. At 31, after a very long European experience with the shirts of Sampdoria, Parma, Lazio, Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter, enriched by many titles won with almost each of them, in 2006 he wanted to return to his Estudiantes. In the following 6 seasons, thanks to his talent, he managed to lead the team to win two Apertura championships, reaching the pinnacle with the conquest of the Libertadores in 2009, to then hang up his boots after a few months playing in the ranks of Coronel amateur club.
The events of the Riquelme-Palermo duo are so rich in anecdotes and episodes that we can write a book about them, summing up we can say that Juan Roma and Martin, the first born in 1978, the second in 1973, cross their careers from an early age, when, between the mid-90s and 2000s (Riquelme will stay until 2002) contribute to Boca Juniors international and international victories. Then both decide to continue their careers in Spain, Riquelme in Barcelona and Villarreal, Palermo with Villarreal (before the arrival of his compatriot), Betis and Alaves. For the two, the experiences reveal themselves with few highs and many lows, especially for the oxygenated attacker, of whom we remember above all the way in which he broke his tibia and fibula at Villarreal, or rather by jumping on a billboard to cheer after his goal. For the attacking midfielder, on the other hand, fresh from bankruptcy at Barcelona, the seasons with the yellow submarines shirt brought him back to the great levels of when he was in Argentina, with his quality plays he managed to bring the club to levels it had never reached , but the story ended at its climax when the penalty kick against Arsenal that could have taken Villarreal to the 2006 Champions League final missed. one and the other's goals, the success in the Copa Libertadores and the victory of two championships, in the midst of dozens of memorable games and plays, but without forgetting, given the personalities, quarrels and various problems. Now they have both stopped, but for the Bombonera fans they are forever among the legends of the yellow and blue club.
Always looking at Argentina, two former Juventus champions, protagonists of many black and white victories in the last ten years (some later removed from Calciopoli), ended up in those parts for the last years of their careers. We are talking about our old acquaintances David Trezeguet and Mauro German Camoranesi, the first called to revive River Plate clamorously relegated to the second division (and promptly recovered also thanks to the goals of the Franco-Argentine), the other landed first at Lanus and then at Racing, where however, so far, he has not managed to make an impact, an understandable fact given that he has now reached 36 springs.
The most beautiful story, however, probably comes to us from Uruguay and was given to us by Alvaro Recoba, for many fans one of the most technical and entertaining players to have arrived in our league in the last 15 years, capable of incredible and ingenious plays. but too often discontinuous and that he has collected much less than what his qualities would have allowed him. After a life spent at Inter (with which, excluding the 98 UEFA Cup, he only started to win something in recent years), winning the 2006 Scudetto, he decided to change his mind, but the adventures with Turin and in Greece did not go as he hoped, so the choice to return to his homeland, where he has always been a national idol. Thus, at the beginning of 2010, 14 years later, he returned to the club that had launched him into professional football, Danubio, but after only one season he changed and moved to Nacional, another team of his from the past. It is here that the magic happens, Recoba starts scoring goals again in his own way, directly from a corner, from a free kick, at the end of a serpentine, but above all he leads Nacional to conquer the championship thanks to a goal in the Opening final, replicated a few months later with another decisive center in the Clausura final, really the best.
It will be another world, another way of playing, certainly less stressful, but the stories that come to us from South America hardly happen at other latitudes.
