Article by Aurelian Botezatu – published on Friday, May 23, 2025, 07:43 / Updated on Friday, May 23, 2025 07:45
Vasco da Gama's players were forced to interrupt the interviews they were filming because in an abandoned factory nearby firearms were drawn.
The day dedicated to the press at the Brazilian Club Vasco da Gama ended steeply. The interviews with the players were interrupted twice by the shootings that were heard near the Moacir Barbosa training center, located near Ciudad de Dios in the western Rio de Janeiro.
The television station O Globo surprised the sound of firearms while registering interviews with players Philippe Coutinho, Vasco's star, Nuno Moreira and Léo Jardim, who were scared at their hearing. A scene became something ordinary for those who work at the club.
A police officer was killed in the area just 2 days earlier
These incidents took place just two days after an officer, José Antônio Lourenco, a member of the Civil Police Elite (Core), was killed in an operation in the same region. The operation was related to the closing of an ice -free ice factory, suspected of distributing contaminated products to local enterprises.
Images captured near Vasco da Gama's cantonamnet during a police operation
During the operation, several shootings took place, forcing the closing of roads for 30 minutes and the redirection of 19 bus lines. This is the fifth incident of violence that affects public transport only in May.
Philippe Coutinho was happy last summer that he returned to his soul club
For Philippe Coutinho, who spent many years in Europe, Liverpool, Bayern, Barcelona and Inter, among others, a very stressful situation. The former Brazilian international, 33, was transferred to Vasco da Gama in July last year. Then he was very pleased, because he was returning to his soul club, for which he had evolved between 2008 and 2010.
“It is a feeling of great happiness. I lived for a long time abroad, so it is really a feeling of returning home, where I grew up, in the place I love, at the club I love,” said the footballer. But what is happening frequently near the training center is frightening.
“Moacir Barbosa”, opened in 2020, is located in an area particularly affected by organized crime. Despite the current situation, the club continues to invest in improving its facilities, with recent projects such as a swimming pool and a jacuzzi recovery and future projects that include a nutrition area and new spaces for the technical and management staff.
