August 5, 2021
Many people who are active online will be familiar with the 'lonely fan' meme that went viral in 2012, showing a sad looking FC Santa Cruz fan witnessing his team lose 4-1 to Gremio.
Eight years later, another image of this fan went viral side-by-side with the first photograph, showing him sat in the stands alongside a trophy, now serving as the club's president.
I decided I wanted to find out who was this man, this club, and what was the true story within Brazilian football that had created these two images - and that's exactly what I've done.
So in this short documentary, HITC Sevens tells the tale of FC Santa Cruz, Tiago Rech, and one of Brazil's greatest recent underdog stories.
By HITC Sevens
