Renato Paiva, the Botafogo Coach Who Embraces and Calls the Ball ‘Girl’

In the last century, fans of Botafogo proudly coined a slogan that transcended the entire country and even the world: “Brazil is the country of football thanks to Botafogo.” This claim was based on the fact that part of the foundation of the Brazilian teams that won the World Cups in ’58, ’62, and ’70 was made up of players from Fogo. The roster is impressive and justifies the slogan: the Encyclopedia Nilton Santos; the cool and stylish organizer Didí and his revolutionary “folha seca” kick; the sacrifice, not lacking in touch and dribbling, from Zagallo; the scorers Vavá and Amarildo; the flair of Gerson and Jairzinho; and, of course, the great idol, Mané Garrincha, the Angel with crooked legs who turned dribbling into both art and spectacle. Botafogo is also the club that has contributed the most international players to the Canarinha (97) and the one that has contributed the most in World Cups (47).

This legacy has always been present and has weighed heavily on a club that has struggled in the past two decades, culminating in two relegations and becoming a target for jokes from rival fans of the other three giants in Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo, Vasco de Gama, and Fluminense. This Club World Cup, for which Fogo qualified by winning the last Copa Libertadores, has returned O Glorioso and its lively torcida to a position fitting its history under the leadership of Renato Paiva (55 years old). This Saturday, they face Palmeiras (18:00, DAZN) in a round of 16 match that includes the Rio-São Paulo rivalry and the friendship maintained with fellow countryman Abel Ferreira, coach of the paulista team. During the pandemic isolation, both spent hours of video calls analyzing teams and systems.

Both coaches now lead the two best teams in Brazil over the last two seasons, and the sporting rivalry between the clubs has intensified. “We’ve played tremendous matches between the two teams. Palmeiras has a great squad and has added even better players now. Plus, there’s Abel’s work over the years,” he emphasized this Friday at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia. “Two years ago, Palmeiras was better, but last year, Botafogo surpassed them. It will be a very strategic, detail-oriented match,” he predicted.

The unexpected victory against PSG and sending Atlético home have elevated the name of Botafogo and its Portuguese coach. He has won over the press rooms with a calm and educational discourse in press conferences that can last half an hour. A coach with a discreet profile, trained in the youth academy of Benfica, Paiva has also restored Botafogo’s desire to be a prominent team with the ball in the opposing half. And when that’s not possible, it seems he has integrated the fashionable transitions of European teams when breaking pressure and playing to find or provoke the free man. Atlético suffered from this, but Oblak thwarted it with two fantastic saves. PSG, too, encountered a compact block in defense and barely found openings. “Botafogo was the team that defended us best,” said Luis Enrique.

Like many before him, Paiva designed a series of visits to top-level coaches such as Guardiola and Simeone, whom he respects greatly: “I place a lot of value on coaches who win titles without having the best squad. I will never forget how angry he got because a fullback moved a cone a meter in a balancing exercise and told him that in football, a meter makes the difference.”

In the run-up to the match against Atlético, he became emotional while explaining his philosophy and how he had planned the game against PSG. Paiva cradled the ball like one would a baby and said: “We played more defensively than we usually do in Brazil, but let it be clear that when my players have this ball, it’s to go seek the opposing goal.”

The notable victory against PSG filled Paiva with pride “because the plan was fragile.” The Portuguese coach did not know how his players would react to what he was going to propose. “I am very proud of my footballers because three days before the match against PSG, I had to tell them and convince them that we needed to be defensive. It wasn’t easy because the players had to hear the opposite of what I normally tell them, and you don’t know how they will react. It was the best collective display from my team.” This Friday, in another extensive press conference, he warned: “What I want is for my team to be more complete than it has been, to attack more, to have the ball more, if Palmeiras allows me, and when it has to defend, to defend, whether through pressure or as a block.”

Paiva arrived at Botafogo last February after Artur Jorge, with whom the team won the Brazilian championship and the Libertadores, moved to Qatar. John Textor, the wealthy American owner of the club, is a devotee of Portuguese coaches. He recruited Paiva from Brazilian side Bahia after he had also spent time at Independiente del Valle in Ecuador and at Mexican clubs Pachuca and León. Paiva is committed to the club’s historical offensive identity, which these days the torcida of Botafogo was proudly showing off along the avenues and beaches of Los Angeles. Their headquarters was set in a luxurious resort in the stunning Californian bay of Santa Barbara. A place reminiscent of Botafogo beach in Rio. There, Paiva reinforced another of his messages: “Defending well is not about defending for long periods.”