Fabio Aleixo SAO PAULO \ Thiago Rocha SAO PAULO \

Lancets

Flamengo is close to becoming the best champion in the history of the National Championships.

To do so, the Red-Black team must sweep Brasília in the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) final. The first match of the best-of-five series will be played this Thursday at noon in the federal capital.

If they don't lose any of the final games, Flamengo will end the tournament with just two defeats, the same record achieved by Rio Claro in the 1992 Brazilian Championship.

In that edition, however, the São Paulo team played only 19 games, representing an average of one loss every 9,5 matches. Meanwhile, the Red-Black team's record is one loss every 17 games: two defeats in 34 matches played.

The problem is that the last defeat was precisely to Brasília. On March 15th, at Maracanãzinho, Flamengo lost 82-78. Three days earlier, the Rio de Janeiro team had won the South American League.

Since the setback, they have gone 23 matches unbeaten, the longest streak ever. The previous record was held by Brasília, with 21 matches.

"We're a predestined group. Being the greatest champion of all time is possible. I'll use that as a motivating factor in the team's pre-match talk," said Flamengo coach Paulo Chupeta.

A standout player on Rio Claro's winning team and top scorer at the 1992 National Championship, former winger Paulinho Villas Bôas says the team has a good chance of establishing itself as the best of all.

– Flamengo is the favorite in this final due to its record and the team it has – bet the former player.

Not even debt got in the way

Flamengo's devastating campaign in the NBB is surprising considering that for more than half of the competition, the athletes had to deal with the problem of unpaid salaries.

This, however, isn't a recent problem. Between 2000 and 2001, when he played for Flamengo, Villas Bôas also stopped receiving his pay.

"It's really tough to play with unpaid wages, and that's what impresses me about this team. The player has to realize that Flamengo owes him money, but one day he'll pay, late, in court, but eventually he will," the former player stated.

Center Baby, who played in the NBA and was not used to this type of situation, said that the spirit demonstrated by captain Marcelinho was fundamental in motivating the players during the tournament.

"He was crucial, otherwise the team would have been relegated. His example always motivated us."