The time has come! After a month of intense preparation at Ninho do Urubu, and the unprecedented qualification for the semifinals of the Copa RS Internacional, a preparatory tournament, Flamengo begins the defense of its Copa São Paulo de Futebol Junior title, won against Corinthians in a packed Pacaembu stadium, facing Central (PE) this Wednesday night (January 04.01th) at 21 pm at the Estádio Anacleto Campanella, in São Caetano do Sul. The match will be broadcast live on SporTV and ESPN Brasil. Group 23 of the biggest national competition in the category also includes São Bento (SP) and São Caetano (SP), who will be Flamengo's next opponents in the first phase. The top two teams in the group advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.

"Despite being a very new group, formed recently, we've arrived very strong for this competition. We have a very high technical level, and this was evident during the Copa RS Internacional, when, while still adjusting the team, we faced great teams like Cruzeiro and Santos, and achieved excellent results, reaching an unprecedented semi-final, which gave our players a lot of confidence. The last two weeks have been about many adjustments and corrections, and we hope to have an excellent Copa São Paulo and represent the Sacred Red-Black Jersey with great quality," said coach Gilmar Popoca.

A key player throughout last year's championship-winning campaign and current team captain, defender Dener also expressed confidence in a successful campaign in the 2017 edition of the Copinha (São Paulo Junior Cup).

"We have a very united group off the field and a lot of quality on it. We have six players in our current squad who were champions last year, and therefore we know all the difficulties we will face in this competition, which is very difficult and tiring. But we've been through this before last year, and we are ready to repeat that history, grow within the championship and fight once again for the title, always respecting our opponents, who are very strong and will want to beat us no matter what," said Dener.