In their best performance so far in this edition of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, Flamengo used their collective strength to easily thrash Nacional 6-0 (Kleber, Moraes, Patrick, Lincoln, João Pedro and Lucas Silva) and qualify for the third phase of the competition. Following the tournament, in a match that will be held on Friday (13.01), at 21 pm, the Garotos do Ninho will face São Caetano again (1-1 in the group stage), at the Municipal Stadium Mayor José Liberatti, in Osasco.

Even with the light, steady rain that fell at Anacleto Campanella Stadium throughout the night, the Rubro-Negro team took the field aware of their superiority and determined to settle the match quickly. The strategy paid off after just three minutes. Theo delivered a beautiful pass to Kleber, who made no mistake and opened the scoring. Nacional was still reeling from the first blow when Vinícius Junior began to emerge, playing on the left side of the Rubro-Negro attack. The first two attempts were saved by the defense. But the third was hopeless. In the 16th minute, he burst into the box and passed to Moraes, who fired a rocket into the net. The ball bounced off both posts before going in. A national celebration!  

Flamengo continued to dominate the game. In the 33rd minute, in a quick counterattack, Patrick charged forward, dribbled past the defender, and scored the third with a right-footed shot. His dominance was so strong that the fourth came in the first half. In another high-speed play, Vinícius Junior rolled the ball into the box, and Lincoln slotted home, scoring his first goal of the competition and becoming quite emotional in his celebration.

"It was a moment of immense happiness. The most important moment in football is the goal, especially for a striker. I tried hard in the first three games, but unfortunately the ball wasn't going in. Thank God and with the help of my teammates, I managed to score today in this first knockout match of the championship. I'm definitely feeling lighter now and even more ready to contribute to the team in the rest of the competition. Our team is very strong and focused, everyone is really wanting it, and we'll remain strong for the next matches," said striker Lincoln.

In the second half, with the game all but decided and playing with seven players suspended due to yellow cards, Flamengo simply managed the result, and coach Gilmar Popoca took advantage of the opportunity to make all six possible changes. Even so, the Boys from the Nest found the net twice more: João Pedro in the 29th minute after a great individual play by Lucas Silva, and Lucas himself in the 35th minute, closing out the scoring.

"What I always make a point of repeating to these boys is that, above all, we are a team. Transferring this mindset onto the field is essential for us to succeed in our goals. I'm very happy because, in my opinion, today's big score came from our collective effort. This allows individual talent to emerge naturally. I'm very pleased to see our team performing this way, and I'm very satisfied. But we all know the celebrations won't last until bedtime. Starting tomorrow, we'll be focused on São Caetano, a very tough team we already faced in the first round. But we're on the right track, and we're taking it step by step toward achieving our goals," said coach Gilmar Popoca.