Flamengo started the 2017 season on the right foot. Beginning the defense of the São Paulo Junior Football Cup title won last year, the Rubro-Negro closed the first round of the 48th edition of the biggest youth football competition in Brazil by beating Central (PE) 5-0 (Patrick, Gabriel Silva, Vinícius Junior [2] and Dener) at the Anacleto Campanella Stadium, in São Caetano do Sul. With this score, the Garotos do Ninho closed the first round at the top of group 23 of the tournament. The Mais Querido's next match takes place on Friday (06.01), at 18:45 pm, against São Bento (SP), which was defeated by the home team 4-2 in the opening match of the double round.

Debuts are always difficult. And it was no different for Flamengo on Wednesday night. Despite completely dominating the game and possession, and creating numerous scoring chances throughout the first half, the team was lacking in finishing. In the 5th minute, Lucas Silva was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who made a great save. On the rebound, Michael shot wide. In the 7th minute, Lincoln passed to Patrick, who also missed the target. Then, in the 12th minute, Patrick again attempted a great shot from outside the box, but the ball flew just wide of goalkeeper Carlos's post. The pressure was intense, but the ball refused to go in. In the 30th minute, Patrick made a great play, carrying the ball through the Pernambuco team's defense, leaving Jean Lucas with a clear shot. But once again, the goalkeeper made the save.

After the halftime talk with coach Gilmar Popoca, the red-and-black team returned to the field playing the same style they had in the first half, exchanging passes patiently and creating numerous scoring chances. The support from the fans, who turned out in large numbers at the stadium, was intense, and they were rewarded with the first goal in the 9th minute. Kleber saved a virtually lost ball and delivered a great cross to Patrick, who was awarded a penalty. He took the penalty himself, twice, to finally open the scoring and give the team some peace of mind. The celebration was along with the nation. In the 24th minute, the second goal arrived. Kleber stole the ball and quickly passed it to Gabriel Silva, who led a swift counterattack. He passed it to Patrick, who rolled it to Jean Lucas to finish. Gabriel Silva doubled the lead from the goalkeeper's rebound. 

"Unfortunately, we missed a lot of goals in the first half. That's something that can't happen again. In the second half, we played the same way, but we were more calm when it came to finishing. I took the first penalty very poorly, I didn't look at the goalkeeper, and I don't usually do that. In the second half, I focused more, and I was fortunate enough to score. Our team deserves congratulations; debuts are always very difficult. Now we're going to rest, because on Friday we have another big challenge," said Patrick, who stood out for the red-and-black team in the match.

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Flamengo dominated the game, and their dominance finally turned into a rout. Vinícius Junior, who had come on shortly before, scored the third and fourth goals, the latter with a beautiful finish into the goalkeeper's top corner. In the 37th minute, it was captain Dener's turn to head home the winner. 

"I'm very happy to have come on and been able to help the team. Looking from the sidelines, I realized we were creating a lot of chances, but we were just missing a goal. Thank God I was able to stay calm when it came to finishing. Now we have to stay focused, because the competition is very tough and we have little time to rest," said Vinícius Junior.

A fan of attacking football, coach Gilmar Popoca celebrated the team's performance in the debut after the match ended.

"I'm very happy with this debut; it was just what we needed. We have a very high-quality team, but it's still very young, and we'll certainly have a huge confidence boost after today's game. The score at halftime was unfair; we created a lot of chances but couldn't find the target. Games like these are tough. But thank God the ball went in the second half, and we managed to build a good score. This was just the beginning; we still have a lot to improve and even more to improve for the rest of this competition, which is very tough," concluded coach Gilmar Popoca.