Julio Cesar, the Brazilian goalkeeper who made Messi cry with his saves and received the 7 goals from Germany in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, retired from his professional life after his last match with Flamengo, the club that defeated America Mineiro 2-0 in the second round of the championship.
The Maracanã stadium was the stage where the goalkeeper, with a clear nostalgia on his face and accompanied by his wife and children, played his last match with Flamengo.
On the night that marked the retirement of Julio Cesar, the Flamengo fans filled the Maracanã to pay tribute to their idol.
At the end of the match against America Mineiro, his teammates from the Brazilian club ran to hug him and the fans chanted his name and applauded him as the goalkeeper took a lap of honor at the Maracanã.
In his 20 years as a professional footballer, Julio Cesar played 444 matches at club level and 87 with the Brazilian national team, with whom he attended the World Cups in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, and Brazil 2014.
In 2010, the goalkeeper became champion of the UEFA Champions League with Inter Milan after eliminating Barcelona in the semifinals, a moment that the goalkeeper considers the best of his career after making Messi cry with his saves.
"They say that my moment was the save against Messi in the Champions League semifinals in Barcelona, and maybe they are right because of that match, that moment, and against that opponent. I made Messi cry," he revealed in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport this week.
After his debut with Flamengo in 2002, the Brazilian goalkeeper played for seven teams, including Inter Milan, Chievo Verona, Benfica in Portugal, Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League, and Toronto in MLS.
With Inter, he won 13 titles, including a Champions League and a Club World Cup, and in the last years of his career he added four more titles with Benfica in Portugal.
Julio Cesar, who retired from professional football at the age of 38, was also involved in one of the worst matches in Brazil's history in the World Cup when the South American giant lost 1-7 to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup in his country.
An emotional crowd, a huge banner that said "Julio Cesar, you are our pride," and a "Thank you Julio Cesar" on the giant screens of the Maracanã accompanied the last moments of the Brazilian goalkeeper's professional life.