Mengão will play the final of the XXV Brazil-Japan Friendship Cup U-15. The final will be against Vasco, this Friday (4), at 10 am, on field 3 of CFZ, in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio. The traditional competition in the U-15 category was created by Zico to strengthen relations between Brazilians and Japanese. The greatest idol in Flamengo's history was present at all of the red-black team's matches.

In the semifinals, Flamengo beat Vitória-BA 2-0 this Thursday (3), in the same place where the duel for the title will be. The team led by coach João Marcos Fernandes had a solid performance and scored the first goal with Lucca Tatsch, in the 16th minute of the first half. Matheus Teixeira sealed the classification, scoring in the 29th minute of the second half. In the other semifinal, Vasco won 2-1 against Fluminense.

In the group stage, Flamengo won two matches and drew one. Their debut match was against Cruzeiro, with a 2-2 draw. Guilherme Queiroz and Marcos Fernandes scored the red-and-black goals. Their second opponent was Kashima Antlers Norte, and the Garotos do Ninho won 6-0, with four goals from José Souza and two from Marcio Guindani. A 1-0 victory over Cuiabá concluded their participation in the group stage. Marcos Fernandes scored the goal.

The quarterfinal opponent was again Cruzeiro, and Mengão won 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. José de Souza scored the goal in regulation time, bringing his total to five in the competition. Goalkeeper Alessandro Alan saved a penalty, and Pierre, Guedes, Thauan, Nathan, and Rafael converted for Flamengo.