During the FIFA international break, Spanish midfielder Saúl Ñíguez took the opportunity to visit Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro and amused Flamengo supporters with his widely talked-about funk playlist.
The pause in the national calendar due to international fixtures created space for some downtime at Flamengo. Midfielder Saúl Ñíguez decided to explore Rio’s culture and visited Rocinha, one of Latin America’s largest communities.
Aside from experiencing local daily life, the Spanish player became a talking point on social media and among local residents due to his peculiar musical taste, highlighted by funk songs with bold and humorous lyrics.
A memorable tour through Rio’s community
During the guided tour, the athlete showed plenty of warmth as he walked through the streets of the favela. Saúl Ñíguez posed for dozens of photo requests, signed autographs for children, and chatted with Rubro-Negro supporters who took the opportunity to joke about the player’s recent musical choices on social media.
The buzz surrounding the athlete’s music profile started after he used a track with explicit lyrics in a training video at Ninho do Urubu, even sparking internal jokes with teammates who suggested blocking his social media accounts.
Reaction and focus on the final stretch of the season
In an interview after the outing, the Flamengo midfielder expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and joked about the chatter generated by his internet posts.
Ah, it’s great. People are very nice, very open, welcoming. First of all, thank you very much for showing Rocinha to me and my friend. Now my playlist is almost coming to an end. There’s one week left and then we start playing soccer again, we stop. We’ll stop and then we have to stay focused on the game. Now that nobody has anything else to talk about, they only talk about my playlist, so we have to enjoy the moment
The time off provided by the FIFA international break is coming to an end for the squad managed by the M360 Team. Having spent just over a year wearing Flamengo‘s colors, the Spanish player and his teammates will soon resume intensive preparation for the decisive challenges of the second half of the season.
Rubro-Negro‘s next fixture will be against Santos on October 8th, in a match valid for the 2026 Brazilian Serie A. Afterward, total focus will turn to the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinals against Argentina’s Estudiantes.
M360 Team
