From fallen giants to giant-killers: Botafogo's remarkable revival

Once Brazilian football royalty, Botafogo had languished for decades as a debt-ridden sleeping giant before they toppled Paris St Germain at the Club World Cup to cap a resurrection tale three years in the making.

When American entrepreneur John Textor acquired the club in 2022, fresh from their promotion back to Brazil's first division, he took on a training ground so decrepit that then-coach Luis Castro dismissed it as "good for parking cars," alongside crushing liabilities exceeding one billion reais ($181.39 million).

Botafogo were a storied but shattered institution. The club that once nurtured Brazilian greats - Garrincha, Zagallo, Jairzinho and Nilton Santos, architects of three World Cup triumphs - was drowning in debt, having endured the humiliation of relegation three times in just over a decade.

On Thursday, they outplayed European champions Paris St Germain to win 1-0 in the Club World Cup's most eye-catching upset, propelling themselves to the top of the tournament's "group of death" and on the verge of the knockout stage.

Their squad, assembled through shrewd bargain-hunting in football's forgotten corners, now faces Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid in Los Angeles on Monday, sitting comfortably, knowing even a two-goal defeat would still secure their passage to the round of 16.

The victory over PSG vindicated Textor's vision, outlined in a Reuters interview three years prior, of "beating the system" through astute scouting in under-explored talent pools.

The architects of Thursday's victory exemplified this approach. Match-winner Igor Jesus arrived as a free agent after three anonymous years in the UAE and was transformed into a Brazil international.

Argentine defender Alexander Barboza, who neutralised PSG's