GloboEsporte.com
Raphael Zarko Rio de Janeiro
Flamengo's youth striker, Lucas, 16, felt the thrill of beating the Rubro-Negro's biggest rival in recent years on Tuesday morning. His two goals were crucial to the team's thrashing of Botafogo in the youth team's debut in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship. Before the show by the Flamengo youth team, Flamengo's youth team also put on a good show, defeating Botafogo by a tighter score: 2-1. Opponents once again in the finals of the next two Sundays (April 26th and May 04rd) of the Rio de Janeiro State Championship, Flamengo can boast of having a clear dominance over Botafogo in this year's matches. Counting the five matches this year in the professional, junior, youth, and youth categories, the Rubro-Negro's dominance is absolute: four wins and only one draw (among the professionals in the Guanabara Cup). Could this be a sign of a third championship title in sight at Gávea? For Flamengo's youth team coordinator, Rivelino Serpa, there's no way to project this morning's victories, nor the youth team's, into next Sunday's match: "They're different categories. No one counts these victories toward Sunday's final. The youth team kids, for example, watch the Carioca finals just as fans. In the near future, they might face Botafogo in the professional league, then, yes, as players. But there's no special motivation because they're matches against Botafogo," said the head of the Flamengo youth team.
Flamengo's youth academy coordinator is the son of Valdir Espinosa, coach of Botafogo's Rio de Janeiro championship in 1989.
Rivelino Serpa is the son of Valdir Espinosa, one of the symbols of Botafogo's last victory over Flamengo, in the 1989 Campeonato Carioca, but he doesn't let family ties, much less his father's connection with Sunday's rival, affect his choice of side in this final: \ - I'm not divided in any way. I've been a professional soccer player for 15 years, and my respect and support are for Flamengo, the club where I work and which pays me," emphasized Serpa, who worked at Botafogo in 1998 and 1999, as well as serving on the coaching staffs of the Paraguayan national team, Verdy Kawasaki, and even managing Fluminense in three games of the 2000 Brazilian Championship. Despite Flamengo's dominance in recent years and recent victories in the youth teams he also manages, he doesn't see a favorite for the competition that begins Sunday at Maracanã: "They're two great teams, very evenly matched, so much so that each won a round," opines Rivelino Serpa, who doesn't intend to pursue a coaching career for now. "Today, I enjoy working with the emerging young players here at Flamengo," he says, adding that he considers it more important to see young players from the youth academy excelling in the professional ranks (such as Erik Flores and Airton) than simply winning tournaments in their category.