Love for the "most beloved"

Raphael Coutinho_247 – Santa Cruz Futebol Clube is a phenomenon, even playing in the Série D of the Brazilian Championship. The fans of the "most beloved," as it is known among its supporters, guaranteed the highest average attendance among all the series of the competition. With an average of 31.837 fans at games played at the Arruda stadium, the tricolor fans surpass Corinthians (26.029) and Flamengo (17.019), teams considered to have the largest fan bases in the country. This passion for the tricolor of Arruda, whose symbol is the coral snake, was responsible for more than 50% of all the revenue recorded in Série D. In addition, the "little saint" also helped the series in which it plays to obtain a higher revenue than Série C.

This passion is not understood even by the club itself. According to research carried out by Santa Cruz, the number of fans has increased in the last six years, a period in which the team suffered its worst moments. “Santa is really a religion. This devotion is what makes us follow the team to various places and do some crazy things,” said, by telephone, the fan Pedro Renam, who embodies the character Jesus Tricolor and was in Rondonópolis, 215 kilometers from Cuiabá, to watch the team's last game. He said that he left Recife on Thursday (27) without telling almost anyone.

“I didn’t notify work and I’m only going back on Wednesday (02). Other people here did the same thing, even getting into fights with their own families,” continued the young man, who is an intern at a company in the Port of Suape. The trips to follow the team to away games were only possible, according to Pedro himself, thanks to partnerships between allied fan groups. “We stayed at a Palmeiras fan club branch in Cuiabá and today (Sunday) we came here to Rondonópolis,” he concluded.

Another passionate Santa Cruz fan is tattoo artist Felipe Pereira. He's been following the team for a long time and doesn't miss a single game at Arruda stadium. This year, he followed Santa Cruz to several games across the country. “I went to São Paulo for a Copa do Brasil game. In Série D, I also went to quite a few games, especially those here in the Northeast. I only didn't go to Cuiabá because my budget didn't allow it,” he pointed out. The fan also feels this increased passion for the team after the frequent years of relegation in the Brazilian championship.

This passion between the fans and Santa Cruz has become the subject of several studies conducted in various fields. According to psychologist Miguel Gomes, this intense love may be linked to people identifying with the club's situation. "It's as if the fans recognize their own difficulties in Santa Cruz's problems and the possibility of overcoming them. There's an identification with the club, with its terrible situation, because we can't acknowledge our own difficulties to society, or even to ourselves," he said. "They intensely experience Santa Cruz's pain so as not to experience their own life's pain. In the team, they also find the possibility of redemption," he noted.

 Passion fattens the coral coffer.