Flamengo officially presented coach Marcelo Salazar as the new commander of the under-20 team this Wednesday (3). Hired until December 2027, the coach arrives at Rubro-Negro after a stint in Saudi football and has already started work on the same day at CT George Helal alongside assistant Sandro Sargentim, who also joins the category's coaching staff.

Originally from Recife (PE) and living outside of Brazil since 2001, Salazar has accumulated experience in international football both as a high-performance athlete and as a professional in management and coaching staff. 

He joined Al-Nassr in 2021 as an assistant coach and remained with the club until 2026, working in various roles, including stints with the first team and as executive director. The 48-year-old coach also participated in the transformation of the club and the Saudi league, was involved in the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané, and also worked as a scouting coordinator. He holds Pro licenses from the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation), and UEFA Elite Scout certification. 

Before leading his first training session at Ninho do Urubu, Marcelo Salazar was introduced to the press, alongside the youth team's football director Alfredo Almeida, and spoke about the opportunity to take charge of Flamengo's under-20 team: 

“I’m returning to Brazil after 25 years because Flamengo called me. It’s a unique opportunity in my career and I want to help the club win and develop players for the professional team. From Alfredo’s first call, I showed total interest in being part of this project. I want to put all my experience at the service of Flamengo.” 

Regarding his work philosophy, Marcelo stated: 

“We will never go onto the field with any other objective than to win. We are here to prepare the players in the best way possible so that, when the professional team needs them, they are ready to stay. Flamengo always demands victory.” 

Portuguese Alfredo Almeida also shared that: 

“When we set out to choose a coach, we first had to know where we wanted to go. We were looking for someone who had experience in developing players, who understood the responsibility of working at a big club, who had a broad vision of football, and who knew how to prepare athletes for the professional level.” 

When we analyzed all these criteria, Marcelo's name met all of them. From then on, the negotiation was very simple, because Flamengo's desire coincided with Marcelo's desire to be here.”

The next match for this category of the beloved team will be against Athletico-PR on June 9th, at 15 PM, at Gávea. for the Brazilian Under-20 Championship. 

Click here to watch the full press conference on FlamengoTV.