Cleber dos Santos: "Focus has to be total"
Flamengo's under-20 team prepares for debut against Santo André in the São Paulo Cup
By Communication - Official Club Website - in
On January 03, 2014, Flamengo's under-20 team debuts in the São Paulo Cup against Santo André, at 16 p.m., at the Alfredo de Castilho Stadium. The Most Beloved will be looking for its third title in the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF) competition, after being champion in 1990 and 2011. In addition to its opponent from ABC Paulista, Flamengo shares Group I, alongside Aquidauanense and Noroeste.
"Santo André usually has very strong youth teams; they have that tradition. We have information about this team they formed for the Copinha, which is different from the team in the São Paulo championship. We have observers in São Paulo to collect data on them. We've already watched some friendlies, and they seem to be very fast from midfield forward. The other opponents will be monitored during the competition," analyzed Cleber dos Santos, the team's coach.
Before the São Paulo Cup, the U-20 team, with some changes to the squad and led by Celso Martins, the U-17 coach, traveled to Rio Grande do Sul to compete in the Brazilian U-20 Championship. Cleber dos Santos thought the participation was positive.
"We had a good campaign in the first phase, where we finished first in the group, and managed to have one of the top scorers in Darlan. In the second phase, against Palmeiras, we struggled a bit due to the opponent's pace in the first half. Our performance was a little below what we expected, but the players came back with good spirits. There's no trace of that loss; we've already turned the page, and some of the players who were there are capable of participating in the Copa São Paulo and are already integrated into our Rio squad," he declared.
For the Copinha, Cleber dos Santos began preparing on December 02nd at the Ninho do Urubu Training Center with the squad that didn't travel to the south of the country for the Brazilian Under-20 Championship. The coach believes that the Rubro-Negro should give their all in the group stage, as there are only three qualifying matches for the second phase.
"The São Paulo Cup is a very balanced competition, despite having more than 100 participating clubs. Many teams are betting all their chips on it. Even though opponents from the interior, from Mato Grosso, which are not as well-known, these are teams that prepare all year for this competition. The focus has to be total, especially in this first phase. We can't drop points; there are only three games. We want to go as far as possible," he said.
The team has a good test before the first match of the São Paulo Cup, a training match against Volta Redonda, on the 28th, at Ninho do Urubu.
"We had already played a training match at Ninho, against Audax, on the 21st, and won 2-1. On the 28th, we closed this cycle of preparatory games with a friendly against Volta Redonda. Then, we traveled on the 02nd to Bauru, for the debut on the 03rd," he explained.
Fla's second match in the competition will be against Aquidauanense, on January 06th, at 21 pm, also at Alfredo de Castilho.