Ninho Boys reach the Brazilian Under-20 semifinals with the best campaign
The team led by Marcio Torres won 70% of the points contested; see the numbers
By Nathan Mello - in
After two years of falling short, the Garotos do Ninho return to the decisive stage of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship. With a solid campaign, the Mais Querido reached the semifinals with a round to spare and now begins preparations to face Vitória at Barradão Stadium on Thursday at 21 p.m. The first decisive match will be broadcast on ESPN and SporTV.
"Flamengo hadn't qualified in the first round for two years, and that was the mission: to qualify with the best possible performance. We had a decent first round, with some setbacks, but the championship demands it. It's a Brazilian Championship with the 20 best teams in the country, and we achieved our goal. Our second goal was to advance to the semifinals. We were drawn in a very strong group with Vasco, Fluminense, and Coritiba, and once again we succeeded, playing well, playing difficult games, falling behind and having to come back. The credit goes to the group, which embraced the idea," said coach Marcio Torres, who has been working with the group since the under-17 category.
After winning the Copinha, Campeonato Carioca, and Troféu Dossena in Italy, Marcio Torres' men entered the Brasileirão seeking another title to cap off a great year of work. In total, the team played 10 matches, winning seven and losing three, accounting for 70% of the points available in the national championship.
"When a youth team wins the São Paulo Cup, the rest of the season is full of ups and downs, but this year wasn't like that. We were Carioca champions, we won the title in Dossena, we got out in the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil, and now we're in the semifinals against Vitória, a great team that eliminated São Paulo and Corinthians. But we're confident because this group deserves another title, and we're going after it," said the red-and-black coach.
During their remarkable run in the Brazilian Championship, the Boys of the Nest scored 19 goals and conceded 13, a positive goal difference of six. Striker Vitor Gabriel is the team's top scorer, having scored four times, as is defender Dantas, who scored four goals in three matches. Rounding out Flamengo's top scorers in the competition are Klebinho and Wendel, who each scored three times. Meanwhile, Vinicius de Souza, Bill, Yuri, Reinier, and Michael each scored one goal.
"When I was managing the U-17 team, I practiced a lot of set pieces; our set pieces were very strong. In the first phase, they didn't happen, and even in the Campeonato Carioca, I demanded them a lot because they were an important play, a powerful weapon. In the World Cup, for example, almost 50% of the goals, if I'm not mistaken, came from set pieces, and our team wasn't scoring. We worked hard, a lot of conversation, a lot of video, and work on the field. Now they're starting to emerge, especially with Dantas, an excellent header, who has started scoring goals."
Mengão played five away matches and proved to be an unwelcome visitor throughout the tournament. The team beat Atlético-PR (3-1), Figueirense (3-0), Fluminense (3-2), Coritiba (3-2) and only lost once to Vasco (2-1). Playing at home, the Mais Querido played the same number of matches and achieved three wins against Internacional (1-0), Coritiba (2-1), Vasco (3-2) and two losses to Santos (2-0) and Fluminense (1-0).
The mission of the Under-20 Ninho Boys does not stop here, in two weeks the place for the final will be decided in two matches against Vitória, this Thursday (27), at 21 pm, at Barradão, and next Wednesday (10/03), at 18:30 pm, at Raulino de Oliveira.