Flamengo's youth football team ends 2019 as the most successful year in its history

In a season of overcoming and redefining, Garotos do Ninho overcome difficulties and win 27 titles, in 12 different categories.

By Ian Sena - in 31/12/2019 às 09:28

It went from mourning to fighting. And it was a beautiful recovery to witness. In the year that experienced the greatest tragedy in its history, the red-and-black youth soccer team overcame itself. And with much struggle, love, sweat, tears, effort, determination, and pride, the Garotos do Ninho finished the 2019 season delivering to the nation the most successful year in its history.

Far above the total number of titles won (surpassing the 27 won in 21), a new all-time record for Flamengo's youth football, is the significance of the trophies. There were five international titles, including the undefeated Dubai World Cup for the Under-2018 category, and three unprecedented national titles: the Under-16 and Under-17 Brazilian Championships, and the Under-20 Super Cup, which guaranteed the Garotos do Ninho a spot in the 20 Copa Libertadores.

Furthermore, of the 13 youth teams, 12 were crowned champions in 2019. The U-14 team didn't win the title, but they came close. They finished runner-up in the Abano Football Trophy in Italy after conceding an equalizer in stoppage time and losing to Valencia (ESP) on penalties.

"The most important thing is that, behind all these achievements, there's work that's been organized and very well done for several years. The club has very clear guidelines regarding its style and form of play. All youth teams follow this model. Of course, there are specific characteristics of each coach and coaching staff and their competencies, but Flamengo's style of play has its own, due to the club's identity, history, and culture. This style of play is based on principles that guide the processes applied in the youth teams and is part of a verticalized work methodology that we apply from the youth teams up to the U-20s, both with the athletes and with their respective coaching staffs. The trend is for us to evolve further with each new season," said Eduardo Freeland, General Manager of Flamengo's Youth Football Team.

In addition, several factors are crucial to the development of Flamengo's youth academy athletes. The most important are the training and ongoing education protocols for professionals working in Flamengo's youth academy, as well as the ongoing integration between futsal and field soccer. Within this framework, the arrival of increasingly younger athletes to the club becomes increasingly important each year, as they will be able to participate in the entire development and transition process, in addition to strengthening the relationship and identity between athletes and the club.

Based on this, several partnerships were established throughout 2019 that are essential for the club's entire fundraising process to become increasingly larger and broader: the agreement with the Subsecretariat of Sports and Leisure of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, which includes 3600 children in the city's 26 Olympic villagesAnd agreement with five futsal clubs from neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, also with the aim of attracting new talent.

"One of the key differentiators of Flamengo's youth soccer methodology is the integration of futsal and field soccer, with futsal serving as a complementary sport to the athlete's development. Athletes go through several stages throughout their development, and our goal is to work through all of these development processes in the best possible way. Parallel to this is our recruitment work, which is crucial to the club and very well led by our Manager Luiz Carlos. Through recruitment partnerships with the Olympic Villages and neighborhood clubs, we've been able to expand our reach throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro and reach four thousand more children than previously," said Youth Soccer Vice President Vitor Zanelli, who added:

"The results are quite clear. Our U-20 team, which won five major titles throughout the season and qualified for the 2020 Copa Libertadores, has over 50% of its roster coming from futsal. Among them are our three U-17 World Cup champions with the Brazilian National Team (Lázaro, Daniel Cabral, and Gabriel Noga)," concluded Vitor Zanelli.

See below the complete list of the 27 titles won by the Ninho Boys in the 2019 season. And here's to more in 2020!

Sub-20:

Guanabara Cup Champion

Two-time Champion of the Otávio Pinto Guimarães Tournament (OPG)

Two-time State Champion

Brazilian Champion

Brazilian Super Cup Champion (Vacation in the 2020 Copa Libertadores da América)

Sub-17:

Brazilian Champion

MU Summer Tournament Champion (England)

Rio Cup Champion

Rio de Janeiro Futsal Champion