Patricia Lopes - Rio de Janeiro

But to what extent does a fan’s love for his club go? For Allan dos Santos it’s a passion transferred down from father to son.

Thus, when his wife got pregnant, he decided that his son would always be connected to Flamengo.

Allan dos Santos -  Baby Flamengo’s father 

For me what counts is love, affection, what is important is that I am a Flamengo fan . What I care is that feeling. And I can only say that the love for Flamengo is different. That's awesome!

On 21 October 2020, Gabriel Henrique Arrascaeta Ribeiro de Mattos was born. Or Flamengo baby, as he’s already being called. All because his name has references to the heroes of the victorious team, which in the last two years, scooped up 7 titles. Gabriel is homage to Gabigol, who scored the two goals in the Libertadores final. Henrique is because of Bruno Henrique, chosen as the best player in the competition. Arrascaeta is the Uruguayan player who led the team’s midfield . Ribeiro is the mother’s surname, Fernanda. But of course, the father managed to get that one in, as it’s also a reference to team captain Everton Ribeiro.

At the beginning, the family didn’t believe that Allan would be capable of naming his son with all these references to Flamengo’s stars. The biggest resistance was with Arrascaeta, as it’s not a first name, but a surname. After all, the player’s name if Giorgian

Allan dos Santos: I insisted! And I said: I want to name my son Arrascaeta and everyone said: don't do that! When my son was born I went to the registry office to register him and I said: my son's name will be Gabriel Henrique Arrascaeta Ribeiro de Mattos. Then the person who worked there asked me: are you sure? Have you talked to your wife? She knows this?

Fernanda Ribeiro: I didn't want to! How can a person have such a name? And then there's Arrascaeta, which is not a family name. People asked if he was sure. Even I thought he wasn’t going to name Arrascaeta, but he did.

The Flamengo baby has an Instagram account, has featured in the first page of the paper, and has been the subject of several pieces on TV. The family has seen their routine change rapidly with the birth of their son and now, they want the players to hear about the homage paid to them and who knows, bring them together for Gabriel Henrique Arrascaeta Ribeiro’s 1stbirthday.

Allan dos Santos:  I did this because I love Flamengo and my son. Love was the main reason. But I always had a dream to meet the players, the training center (Ninho do Urubu). But before, it was very difficult. Now I hope we can realize this dream, because everything I did was for love. We want to meet the players, take pictures with them, see a day of training.

Besides Baby Flamengo, Allan also  paid homage to Neymar in the name of his firstborn son. The child is 4 and is named David Lucca, same name carried by PSG and Brazil’s star firstborn. In this house, everything is related to football.