DENER THE LOST WONDERKID
As dawn was breaking on Tuesday April 19, 1994, curious passers-by started to gather on 2225 Borges de Medeiros Avenue, in the south of Rio de Janeiro.
Near the beautiful Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon was a white Mitsubishi Eclipse – number plate DNR-0010 – contorted around a tree. From the passenger door just ajar, the scene was bleak: there rested Dener’s limp body, reclined all the way back in the seat that had been transporting him to training only a few hours earlier.
At 5.15am the footballer’s pal, Otto Gomes de Miranda, had fallen asleep and lost control of his car while driving the hefty 434km from Sao Paulo overnight, crushing both of his
