For Ewerton the goal was a clear, if slightly conflicting one: help dismantle the club he is a lifelong supporter of and book a place in the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™.
Despite having fallen narrowly short of that target, with CR Flamengo downing Pyramids FC 2-0 to win the FIFA Challenger Cup, the Brazilian forward didn’t leave the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium totally empty-handed.
Speaking to FIFA post-match, the 28-year-old was holding tight to a pair of shirts he managed to obtain from his opponents. One of those was the No27 of captain Bruno Henrique and the other was the prized No10 of Flamengo’s creator-in-chief, Giorgian de Arrascaeta.
With the black-and-red striped kits slung over his shoulder, Ewerton discussed the thrill of lining up for the Egyptian giants against Brazilian royalty.
“I grew up from when I was a boy in a Flamengo family, all my family were watching this match from my home state of Amapa. Growing up there was no question, it was all about Flamengo for sure.
“It means that this match was an emotional one for me, a really, really special one.”
While his heart may belong to the Rio giants, his obligation very much lays with an ambitious Pyramids side that have made extraordinary progress since the latest incarnation of the club began less than a decade ago.
As the left winger explained, just being at these kinds of global tournaments is a significant step in the club’s development.
“It’s an honour for us to be on this stage, a new club of just eight or nine years. The whole experience was really good and it has given us that desire to want to come back.
“We knew from the beginning that it was going to be tough against Flamengo but we created some chances which we missed, so it was unlucky for us. If we scored those chances I think the game could have been totally different.
“Last season though was really great for us, we won the [CAF] Champions League for the first time, which was huge for the club.
“Now we have to make sure that we do it again so that we can return to this competition, come back here at least one more time and play against these big clubs, which is just an amazing experience.”
After leaving his homeland as a 21-year-old, Ewerton’s career has taken stops in Slovakia and Czechia before his arrival at the Egyptian upstarts.
Admitting sheepishly that he’s not yet actually visited the famed landmarks that the club is named after, he is bullish on the chances of both Brazil and his adopted home on the global stage next year at the FIFA World Cup™.
“Now we have seen that Egypt has really good players and African football, as we saw with Morocco, is really on the rise, so sure they can make the second round and from there you never know what can happen.
“As strong as Egypt might be, my support will be 100% for Brazil and there’s no reason why we can’t win it all.”
