After the debut with victory over Red Bull Brasil, last Sunday (03.01), the youngsters from the red-black base beat Palmeira/RN 5-1 in the São Paulo Junior Cup. The Most Beloved entered the field on Tuesday night (05.01) and with the second consecutive victory guaranteed their place in the next phase of the competition in advance. The team entered the field with: Thiago; Léo Duarte, Thiago Ennes, Dener and Michael; Ronaldo, Paquetá and Matheus Sávio; Cafu, Luã Lucio and Felipe Vizeu at the Nogueirão Stadium, in Vila Industrial, in Mogi das Cruzes.

The game started off lively, with the Red-Blacks attacking more. Midfielder Cafu had a good scoring opportunity early on and, with a beautiful play, threatened the opposing goalkeeper, who made a good save. During a dangerous attack by the Alviverde, right-back Thiago Ennes helped the Mais Querido defend, denying the Palmeiras/RN opportunity.

In the 29th minute of the first half, midfielder Ronaldo opened the scoring for Flamengo with a stunning header after receiving a beautiful cross from Cafu. The first goal gave Flamengo more confidence, and it didn't take long for the score to be extended: 2-0 to "Mais Querido" with a goal from Thiago Ennes.

The red-and-black team returned from the break unchanged, and soon after the restart, the Alviverde team closed the gap with a goal from Capacete. Despite this, Flamengo remained partially ahead, 2-1. It didn't take long for the Mais Querido to make up for the goal conceded in the opening minutes: Lucas Paquetá scored Flamengo's third.

In the 15th minute, it was Matheus Sávio's turn to score: 4-1 for Clube da Gávea. With the team winning comfortably, the score didn't stop there: Felipe Vizeu, scorer of the winning goal in Flamengo's debut in the competition, also scored and the rout ended 5-1 for Mais Querido.

There are 112 clubs in 28 groups of four each, with the top two from each qualifying for the next stage. Coach Zé Ricardo's team is in group 24, along with Palmeira from Rio Grande do Norte, União Mogi from São Paulo, and Red Bull Brasil, also from São Paulo. The Rubro-Negro, already guaranteed a spot in the next stage, faces the team that qualifies from group 23, which includes Atibaia, Brasília, Goiânia, and Portuguesa. 

 

Flamengo has one more game in the group stage, where they will face União Mogi next Thursday (07.01), at 19 pm. The second phase takes place between the 8th and 10th.