Antigo jogador do Fluminense revela o que aconteceu nos bastidores de uma discussão acalorada com Ganso no campo

In 2019, Oswaldo de Oliveira, the coach of Fluminense, had a memorable moment in his last stint with the team, as he got into a heated argument with Paulo Henrique Ganso during a match against Santos in the Brazilian Championship that year. Both exchanged insults after Ganso was substituted. In an interview with Charla Podcast, Oswaldo de Oliveira revealed the behind-the-scenes details of the situation and cited Ganso’s tactical indifference as the main reason for the argument.

Oswaldo mentioned that when he arrived at Fluminense, the team had a brilliant performance but struggled to score goals and conceded many. This was right after Fernando Diniz’s tenure. He knew that improving the defense was crucial. Despite opposition from others, he believed that Nenê and Ganso could work well together if they supported each other. While Nenê’s partnership worked out better, Ganso was introverted and shy.

During the match against Santos, coached by Sampaoli, who had six players in the box and Soteldo as their main threat, Oswaldo needed a strategy to contain them. He instructed Igor Julião to mark Soteldo, but he couldn’t do it alone. That’s where Ganso was supposed to help. In the first two instances, Ganso fulfilled his role, but in one crucial moment, he failed to reach Soteldo, resulting in a goal for Santos.

At halftime, with a score of 1-0 in favor of Santos, Oswaldo reiterated his instructions and showed video footage again. When he saw that Ganso was not following his instructions, he yelled at him to get back and defend. But instead of complying, Ganso started insulting Oswaldo, and the situation escalated. Oswaldo mentioned that Ganso’s introverted nature made it difficult for him to get through to him with his words. He tried to seek assistance from Nenê, Marcão, and Paulo Angioni, asking them to talk to Ganso. At one point, he even involved Neymar, who was playing for Paris Saint-Germain at the time, to speak with Ganso.

When Ganso continued his disrespectful behavior even after being substituted, Oswaldo had no choice but to take him off the field. This led to the infamous argument. Ganso gave his own version of events in an interview with Premiere, stating that the disagreement was due to something that happened on the field and that it was part of the game.

Ironically, Oswaldo de Oliveira left his position as coach of Fluminense following the 1-1 draw against Santos, which became known for the argument. He had only been in charge for seven matches, with a success rate of only 38.1%.