The newly promoted had a very positive season. Dragão suffered with several important departures during the season but were always able to keep competitive standards and granted a safe position very early in the season.
Atlético started the season as a serious candidate to relegation, as the squad didn’t seem to have strong arguments to compete with more established teams in Série A. By the 7th round, Atlético was standing second to last, which seemed to confirm the initial projections.
However, Vágner Mancini was able to pick up the team and bring it to an amazing series of 12 games with only 1 defeat and some very impressive performances.
The excellent form worked against the team, in a way, as in a matter of one month, Dragão lost the coach Mancini to Corinthians and their main references in the team: striker Renato Kayzer, playmaker Jorginho, winger Ferrareis and central midfielder Edson.
The team proved that the club structure is more important than any individual, and some unexpected units stepped up to play close to the standards of the former team stars.
Goalkeeper Jean had a very impressive season, not only with his many point-earning saves, but also with his clean run of penalties taken. The goalkeeper ended the season as the team’s third top scorer, only topped by the strikers Renato Kayzer and Zé Roberto.
Defenders Dudu, João Victor and most notoriously Éder were strong reasons for the team’s success. Jorginho and Kayzer could have had star-like season should they have stayed at Atlético GO the entire season. Mancini’s replacement Marcelo Cabo also deserves the praises for being able to keep the standards with a weakened team in the second part of the season.
Atlético will have a serious challenge in preparing next season, as most their important players were on loan and should be playing somewhere else.
