Jorginho landed on a Friday morning at Tom Jobim International Airport, surrounded by hundreds of tourists ready to enjoy a weekend in Rio de Janeiro. But the midfielder was there on business: within hours, he would sign his first contract with a Brazilian club — CR Flamengo.
That was on 6 June. Ten days later, he made his debut for Fla in their FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ opener – a 2-0 victory over Tunisian outfit Espérance in Philadelphia.
In his 73 minutes on the pitch, the Brazilian-born Italian international displayed an early chemistry with his new team-mates, comfortably slotting into the system designed by coach Filipe Luis, and even claiming the assist for Luiz Araujo’s goal that sealed the result in the second half.
“This team fits my style really well, especially how I work tactically on the field,” the former Chelsea FC man told FIFA after the match. “It aligns a lot with what the other players are doing. Everything’s clicking with what I’ve been doing in recent years.
“It feels like I already understand what my team-mates are doing and what the coach wants. Now it’s just about keeping up the pace and constantly improving.”
Once again, much like as Napoli, Chelsea and Arsenal, Jorginho finds himself surrounded by technically gifted players with a penchant for passing. That starts with the central defensive duo of Leo Ortiz and Leo Pereira, and continues into midfield with Erick Pulgar, then with Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Gerson, and others. So much technical quality around him elevates Jorginho’s game — just as his quick thinking and unselfish play feed into theirs.
And it was with a beautiful passing sequence that Flamengo opened the scoring in the 17th minute through an inspired Arrascaeta, who now has eight goals in his last 12 appearances. The team, meanwhile, has kept four consecutive clean sheets across three different competitions, but Jorginho is keen to stress that complacency can’t creep into their game.
“Like it or not, the team had gone 11 matches unbeaten. So, if you walk in thinking you’re superior, you can find yourself in a very tough spot,” he continued. “But we went out to play our game. We deserved this win for the way we prepared and how we entered the pitch.”
Even so, the second half brought some anxious moments for Flamengo. Espérance came out pressing higher, more aggressively, and with quicker transitions in attack. It was tense, but the potential crisis was averted after 70 minutes when Jorginho found Araujo between the lines with a perfectly-weighted pass. The left-footed striker then finished off the move with a beautifully-taken goal, curling the ball around the right-hand of Tunisian goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said and into the corner.
It was Jorginho’s first assist, but the Flamengo faithful already sense it could become a regular feature. So much so that when he came off three minutes later, the crowd behind the bench, packed with travelling Fla supporters, rose to applaud their latest hero.
