Camila Bairros, a fan who carved her love for Timão on her skin. Photo: Personal Archive
Corinthians has an important decision this Tuesday (29) against Estudiantes, by CONMEBOL Sudamericana. But at least one of the Argentine staff will be heartbroken. And she doesn’t even hide her passion, tattooed on her wrist. “In 2012, on the day of the final against Boca Juniors, I decided I wanted a Corinthians tattoo. But I only went to get it some time later, on the eve of the World Cup final against Chelsea. , because she was very lucky », recalls Camila Bairros, who, in addition to collaborating with the local team, is a second-year medical student at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP).
But how did Camila and her love engraved on her skin end up among the pincharratas, the fans of our opponent this Tuesday? First, because she is Brazilian, born in Nova Hartz-RS. And she joined the group of crazy people as a child, despite her mostly gremist family. “In the 1990s, who was most in evidence on television was Corinthians. And I remember that at the time I saw many free-kicks from Marcelinho Carioca and I ended up becoming a Corinthian because of him”, she explains.
Since he was a child, he has always been proud to cheer for Corinthians, even in a family of Gremistas. Photo: Personal Archive
Since moving to study in La Plata in 2020, Camila has learned to love a new team: Estudiantes. “I went to live in an apartment where I could see the lights of the stadium (Jorge Luis Hirschi, home of Estudiantes). And since I’ve never been able to experience a game inside a stadium, I was dying to see a game there.”
However, the Covid-19 pandemic postponed their plans, as well as the death of a very dear uncle in Brazil. She dropped out of college, returned to Rio Grande do Sul, and only returned to Argentina in 2022. “I met a friend who took me to the Estudiantes stadium for the first time and that game made an impression on me, because it was exactly the day of the birthday of the my uncle who had passed away, he was like a father to me. And I just fell in love with the experience, especially the fans”, says Camila, who became a member of Estudiantes so that she could go to all the games.
Camila at Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium, home of Estudiantes. Photo: Personal Archive
Thanks to this year’s CONMEBOL Sudamericana calendar, in which several meetings of the team from La Plata against Brazilian rivals emerged, another opportunity arose for Camila. She received an invitation to record voice-overs in Portuguese, to guide visitors in the stadium during matches against teams from Brazil.
Who made the bridge for her to become the official voice in Portuguese at Estudiantes games was Luis Alvares Gelves, one of the club’s managers, who became a friend of Camila. « She transferred her passion for football to La Plata and obviously, being a fan of a giant club like Corinthians, she couldn’t choose another great club in Argentina if not Estudiantes », he said, exclusively to the Corinthians.com.br and to SCCP Universe, during his visit to Neo Química Arena for the first leg of the quarter-finals. “Camila collaborates a lot with us, she is the Portuguese voice of the stadium and an excellent hostess for friends from Brazil who visit La Plata or study there. She identifies a lot with our values and colors”, added Luis Alvares, who is the club’s institutional coordinator.
Luis Alvares and Camila Bairros (downtown). Photo: Personal Archive
meeting of giants
When the continental competition came out and saw that the confrontation between Corinthians and Estudiantes could happen, Camila was very apprehensive. And when the duel was confirmed, the half white and half white heart was tight. “The penny only really fell on the eve of the game that took place in São Paulo. I could barely sleep, I had anxiety, because I didn’t know how it would be, how I would react. People came to ask me how I was feeling and I just replied that I didn’t know, because it was very difficult to define a feeling. For me it’s like having to choose which of my children I like best.”
The student was unable to travel to São Paulo to watch the first game of the 180-minute clash between the two teams, but will be at the stadium for today’s decisive duel.
Bairros watched the first clash of the quarterfinals with a divided heart. Photo: Personal Archive
“Never in my life did I think of choosing a team other than Corinthians. I never had a second team, I was always just Corinthians and in my life it was always like that, even more so in the middle of a family of Gremistas”, he confides. “I dreamed of seeing my favorite players up close, like Cássio, Renato Augusto, Yuri Alberto and even Matías Rojas, who played here in Argentina. So this feeling is being very difficult. It’s like I’m betraying someone, having to choose who I’m rooting for in this matchup. »
“Today, Estudiantes is my family, but Corinthians will always be the love of my life. I am completely divided, I just hope that it will be a beautiful duel and that the best will win”, concluded Camila.
With Renato Augusto, on the arrival of the Corinthian delegation in La Plata. Photo: Personal Archive
Tags: Football, Institutional, News
Category(ies): Football, Institutional