With one round to spare, Flamengo secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship by beating Coritiba 3-2 last Wednesday (12) at Couto Pereira. Fundamental to the important victory against Coxa, defender Matheus Dantas scored twice in the match and equaled striker Vitor Gabriel in Fla's top scorer tally in the competition with four. 

The goalscoring defender has been Flamengo's standout performer in the second phase of the national championship. Besides forming a solid defense, whether alongside Patrick or Rafael Santos, he has contributed in attack at crucial moments. Dantas scored the opening goal at São Januário Stadium in the match Vasco won 2-1 in the third round. In the following match, again against their rival, this time at Raulino de Oliveira Stadium, he scored in the Mais Querido's 3-3 victory. And now, against Coritiba, he scored the first and last goals, sealing the victory and the Garotos do Ninho's qualification for the semifinals. After the match in the capital of Paraná, Dantas spoke about the remarkable individual moment he is currently experiencing. 

"The whole group deserves congratulations; we've been working incredibly hard this week. Personally, after training with the group ends, I train on my own to adapt as much as possible defensively and, when necessary, to help up front. It's a unique moment in my career to score two goals in one match, and four in three games. This is the result of a lot of commitment, hard work, and dedication, not just on my part, but on the part of all my teammates. We're together, supporting each other. It's not over yet; we have the next game, and we'll work hard because we're aiming for the title."

For the second consecutive game, coach Marcio Torres' team fell behind, but with great determination and maturity, they turned the game around. Both against Vasco da Gama at Raulino de Oliveira Stadium and yesterday against Coritiba, the goals came in the opening minutes. The Flamengo defender commented on the match against the Paraná team and highlighted what needs to be improved to prevent the team from suffering further setbacks in future matches.

"We knew we'd face difficulties against Coritiba; their team has quality. We started off a bit distracted in the first half. We conceded two goals in the first 10 minutes, but our group is united and committed to helping each other, and it was no different. We were losing, but we pulled together even more to secure the victory. The locker room conversation at halftime was incredible. We were losing, but we managed to equalize before the end of the first half and managed to turn it around, securing the victory. The whole group is very united; we have to be more focused and committed to prevent this from happening again."

Flamengo will play its first Brazilian Championship semi-final in the Under-20 category since 2015, when the competition began to be organized by the CBF. Despite the early classification, Matheus Dantas made a point of emphasizing that the classic against Fluminense still remains, next Wednesday (19), valid for the last round of the group stage.

"We can't assume we've already qualified. We have to enter the same way we've been entering every match, with a lot of dedication, desire, and commitment from the entire group. We don't want to lose in the final round; we want to earn more points and reach the semifinals even stronger," concluded the player.