Marcão, former Fluminense midfielder, remains as the club’s interim coach and will lead the team against Remo in the Brasileirão at 4 p.m. in the Maracanã. He took over after the previous coach left and has already steered the side during critical moments, including the 2021 Libertadores qualification. Marcão’s relationship with Fluminense dates back to the 1980s, when at 18 he played backyard football in Santíssimo, the western zone of Rio, while working as a mechanical turner. It was with the Mordomia FC jersey that he experienced a turning point in 1989, scoring a goal in a training match against Bangu, opening the door to professional football at Moça Bonita. Promoted to the senior squad in 1992, at 21, by coach Dé Aranha in Série B, he only attracted Fluminense’s attention in December 1999 after unsuccessful spells at Criciúma, Bragantino, and a brief period at Vasco. The club was competing in Série C of the Brazilian Championship, and the midfielder quickly earned a place in the team of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who called him “xodó” and compared him to Mauro Silva for relentless marking. Marcão played nearly 400 matches for the club between 1999 and 2006, won two Carioca Championships, Série C, and became captain. In 2005 he scored one of the goals in the state title against Volta Redonda. That same year he left Fluminense to play in Qatar for financial independence but returned in 2006, again receiving the captain’s armband under coach Abel Braga. After hanging up his boots in 2011 with Bangu, he became the team’s coach. Before returning to Fluminense in 2019 for the permanent coaching staff, he served as assistant coach from 2014 to 2016, and in 2019 was made permanent, helping the club avoid relegation. In 2021 he led the team to Libertadores qualification and declined a Flamengo offer, explaining in an open letter that “no amount of money can surpass a lifetime passion.” His commitment never meant complacency; Marcão pursued new training, earned CBF coaching licenses, and completed a Physical Education degree at Estácio de Sá in 2026, a program he had started over a decade earlier. As an assistant coach during Fluminense’s 2023 Libertadores triumph, he cried during the pre-match lecture of the final against Boca Juniors at the Maracanã, recalling everything he had experienced since joining the club. The long dedication to Fluminense is rewarded with the club’s gratitude, crowning a relationship built over nearly three decades. When called upon again, Marcão has once more enabled the fans and club to regain confidence and dream of a better season finish.