The Campeonato Brasileiro has a rather different relationship with age than most leagues. In Europe, the norm is that most players are in what we would consider the middle years of a playing career - around 25 to 30, say. The older or younger you go, the fewer players there are. The age/players graph might resemble a gentle hill.
But market forces dictate that things are rather less stable in Brazil. With players often snapped up by European clubs or tempted by Middle Eastern chequebooks before they reach their best years, fans often have to content themselves with the bookends of careers.
To the casual observer, it can look as though the kids have overrun the palace. Many clubs give opportunities to youngsters – sometimes out of necessity, sometimes in the hope of tapping into the kind of capitalistic fever that accompanies the ascent of talented footballers these days. The Brasileirão is pored over by people (scouts, YouTube aficionados, Football Manager addicts) desperate to identify the next big thing before the masses do.
Increasingly, however, Série A is becoming a place where old heads flourish. Repatriated stars such as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Elano and Zé Roberto have found that a little experience goes a long way in a league that often prioritises physical prowess over tactical and technical quality. Gringos like Clarence Seedorf have also taken to switch to the Brasileirão in their strides.
That former Fenerbahçe star Alex should be tearing things up like Jason Statham in a B-movie should not be too surprising, then. But the sheer quality of the 35-year-old’s recent displays for Coritiba have still managed to raise eyebrows among a population hardly starved of individual footballing brilliance.
“He is the brains and the soul of Coritiba,” Estado de S. Paulo columnist Artero Greco wrote this week after Alex turned in a virtuoso performance against Flamengo. “He may have left his 20s behind a while ago, but you’d never know it. Watching him is a joy.”
Saturday’s match perfectly illustrated the importance of the playmaker to his side. Trailing 2-0 to a side clearly buoyed by the arrival of new coach Mano Menezes, the Coxa looked down and out, all set to relinquish their grip on top spot. But Alex had other ideas, setting up a goal for Chico before slamming home an emphatic leveller just eight minutes later.
It took Alex’s goal tally to 18 in 2013 – not bad with more than five months of the season remaining. He has already managed three assists in Série A, while his stats for crossing (11 accurate from 29 attempts) and long balls (18/23) underline an excellent range of passing and delivery. Indeed, only one player - Corrêa - has completed as many crosses with a better accuracy than Alex (37.9%). Even in the twilight of his career, his vision is astounding.
It’s not the first time he’s won the hearts and minds of the Coxa fans, of course. Alex began his career at Coritiba and was a firm fan favourite before moving to Palmeiras in 1997. When he decided to return to his hometown club after leaving Turkey, supporters saw it less as a transfer coup than as a second coming.
His timing was impeccable: his arrival has coincided with an upturn in fortunes for the side from the city of Curitiba (note the nonsensical spelling difference), who won their state championship at a canter and remain unbeaten in the Brasileirão.
This is testament to the sterling work of coach Marquinhos Santos in his first senior coaching role. The 34-year-old tactician (he is younger than Alex) has built a side of great attacking intent: Saturday’s side featured three playmakers behind striker Deivid; it would have been four had fan favourite Rafinha not accepted an offer to play for Al-Shabab last week.
It seems unlikely that they’ll be able to keep up their current form for the remainder of the campaign, but qualification for the Libertadores is a realistic aim. Alex, who won that competition in 1999, would surely love the chance to strut his stuff on the continent once more. After all, you’re only as old as you feel.
