On the afternoon of last Saturday (16), Ferroviário became two-time champion of Series D of the Brazilian Championship by beating Ferroviária 2 x 1. In addition to the title celebrations, the day was also special for striker Gabryel Martins, just 21 years old, who asked his girlfriend Bárbara Souza to marry him and received the long-awaited “yes”.
On social media, the Fluminense player celebrated the eventful day. “Brazilian Champion and groom. The best day of my life”, wrote Gabryel, on X, the old Twitter. An unusual fact is that Bárbara, before the grand final of Series D, asked the Ferrão da Barra player for the marriage proposal on the TV program Futebolês.
Ferroviário’s number 18 player had a remarkable moment in this edition of Brazil’s last division when he converted the decisive penalty in the quarter-finals against Maranhão, guaranteeing his place in next year’s Series C.
Bárbara’s now fiancé was a starter in Ferrão da Barra’s attack in the title game, marked by another great performance from the experienced Ciel. The 41-year-old striker provided the assist for the first goal, scored by Deysinho, and, after Ferroviária equalized the score with Vitor Barreto, he was responsible for scoring the title goal, receiving an assist from Kadu Barone.
The Ceará team coached by Paulinho Kobayashi had a historic undefeated campaign, winning 15 of 24 games, as well as nine draws, with 40 goals scored and only 11 conceded. Two of these goals were scored by Gabryel Martins.
They move up to Series C in 2024, in addition to Ferroviário and Ferroviária, Caxias and Athletic Clube. On the other hand, Manaus, América-RN, Altos and Pouso Alegre will play in Série D next year, as they were the last four in the third division that year, which is still in dispute with eight other teams in the dream of reaching second place.
Groom and Series D champion for Ferroviário is Xerém’s offspring
Fluminense’s famous youth category revealed great football stars, such as Marcelo and Thiago Silva, and that’s where Gabryel Martins came from. The young striker was loaned to Ferrão in April of this year and has played 28 games for the club from Ceará, seven of which were in the Copa Fares Lopes, a state competition in which he finished as runner-up.
Before Ferroviário, he played for Bangu in the 2023 Carioca Championship. There, he played nine matches and did not score a single goal. As a professional for Flu, he only played once, for 10 minutes, in last year’s state championship against Boa Vista, with this 2022 edition being his first title with the main team.
With the Tricolor Carioca base he won the under-20 state championship and, before the loans, he was on the under-23 team, a team used as a transition to the professional ranks. The young man must return to Fluminense and see if his future holds opportunities at the club that trained him or he will have to face new loans.
