The most important basketball competition in the Americas kicks off on December 6th. The ball will be kicked off for the 2009/2010 edition of the League of the Americas, which will feature four Brazilian clubs. Among them is Flamengo, the current two-time national champion and South American champion. Coach Paulo Chupeta's team, however, will only debut on the 14th, as they are in Group B of the competition, which will be played in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. The League is the only title Flamengo has competed for, but not yet won, in the last three years.

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In this first phase, 16 teams are divided into four groups of four teams each. The top-place teams in each group will secure a spot in the Final Four, which will be played in February of next year, but the venue has not yet been determined. This is the third edition of the League of the Americas. In 2007/2008, the champion was Peñarol Mar Del Plata of Argentina. In 2008/2009, the title went to Universo/BRB/Financeira Brasília, who will attempt to win the tournament for the second time. In addition to the Brazilian teams, clubs from Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela will compete in the competition.

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Mengão's opponents in Group B are the home team Espartanos, from Isla Margarita, Venezuela; the Mexican Halcones Rojos; and the Puerto Rican Capitanes de Arecibo. It's worth noting that if they qualify for the Final Four, Flamengo will already have their best campaign in the history of the Liga das Américas, having been eliminated in the first round in the previous two editions. Interestingly, last season, the team even beat the defending champion, Universo/BRB/Financeira Brasília, in the qualifying round, but ended up outside the Final Four.