After beating Fluminense 3-1 last Wednesday (22), Mais Querido's under-17s took to the field this Sunday (26) to face Botafogo in the first match of the Taça Guanabara final, at Caio Martins, in Niterói.

Coach Márcio Torres's team put in a solid performance in the first half, opening the scoring after just three minutes through top scorer Lincoln. Many chances were created throughout the first half, but the young players struggled to finish them off. In the second half, in the 3th and 15th minutes, the black and white team scored twice to turn the game around to 29-2.

Flamengo showed its usual red-and-black spirit to equalize. Then, in the 33rd minute, striker Lincoln shone again, scoring his second goal of the match from a corner kick. It was his eleventh goal in the competition. The "Mais Querido" narrowly avoided turning the game around. In the final minute of the game, after a mistake by Botafogo's defense, Andrade hit the crossbar.

Márcio Torres, the team's coach, reflected on the match's events. "We played a very good first half, in which we should have killed the game. We came into the second half with the advantage, but we ended up playing the game they proposed. We insisted on long balls, even though the pitch wasn't in the best condition. Unfortunately for us, we ended up giving up the equalizer on a play that wasn't very ambitious. They scored the second goal on a play that, in my opinion, the striker was offside. But that's okay, it happens. We had the strength to react, tie the game, and almost score the third goal at the end of the match," commented the coach, who concluded by talking about the next match of the final. "Everything is open. The boys are excited about this game, as we had a great performance. We'll go into the next match focused on victory. We're prepared," he concluded.

Check out the red-black youth team's games this week:

June 02th, Saturday
Guanabara Cup
Under-15: Flamengo vs. Fluminense, 10 a.m., in Gávea
Under-17: Flamengo vs Botafogo, 15pm, in Gávea