The Boys of the Nest take to the field on Monday night (22) for another decisive game of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup. Flamengo faces Cruzeiro at 19:30 pm, at Arena Barueri, with broadcast on SporTV and Premiere. The match pits Mengão, the current Brazilian champion, against the Minas Gerais team that won the Under-20 Brazil Cup, also last year, against each other in the semifinals of the competition.

Still unbeaten in the Copinha, Mengão has been outdoing itself in each stage of the competition. Of the 128 teams, Flamengo reached the top four, maintaining the plan defined since the beginning of preparation for the competition. Immediately after the group stage, 4 players returned to Rio de Janeiro to play professional football, following one of the club's mottos: to put as many "Garotos do Ninho" (Nest's Boys) as possible on the first team. Those who remained in São Paulo seized the opportunity to represent Mengão in a competition as significant as the Copa São Paulo and have been performing well. In seven games, they have won six, drawn one, scored 12 goals, and conceded only five. Weliton is the Rubro-Negro's top scorer with five goals in five matches.

Even with a national derby slated to decide a spot in the final, Raphael Bahia's team remains confident in its campaign and its goal of fighting for its fifth Copinha title. The coach spoke about his expectations for the upcoming match.

"Our expectations are the best possible. We know we're in the final stretch of the competition, and the players' fatigue is natural; we have a small squad. But we have great faith in the strength of the squad, the strength of the jersey, and that we can play well and secure qualification for the Copa São Paulo final," Bahia concluded.

This is the sixth time Flamengo has reached the Copinha semifinals. Only in 1998 did they fall by the wayside, being defeated by Ponte Preta. Four-time champions (1990, 2011, 2016, and 2018), Mengão is seeking its fifth title in the competition.