Isolated leaders in the Metropolitan Championship, the State Championship of the category, even with one game less than the vice-leader Fluminense, the Garotos do Ninho of the U-13 team, commanded by coach Leonam Kasali, maintained the level throughout the week and are also doing well in the VR Cup, a national competition that is played annually in the city of Volta Redonda, in the South Fluminense region.

With a strong campaign thus far, the Mais Querido team reaches the grand final with an unbeaten record and no goals conceded. In the first stage, they had a 100% record, with comfortable victories over Paraná (6-0), Barra da Tijuca (an impressive 16-0), and Volta Redonda (3-0). From the quarterfinals onward, the challenge became even greater, and the teams against Atlético Paranaense and Fluminense came in penalty shootouts after a 0-0 draw in regulation time, with goalkeeper Ruan shining.

The grand final of the 2018 edition of the VR Cup in the Under-13 category will take place on Sunday morning (09) at 9 am, at the Raulino de Oliveira Stadium. The Garotos do Ninho are confident of winning another title for the red-black youth football team in the 2018 season.

"The fact that we're playing at the Raulino de Oliveira Stadium, which has a great structure and a great pitch, is a great advantage for our highly skilled U-13 team. Despite two draws in our last few matches, we've been playing very well and creating several scoring chances in every game. We have the best possible expectations for the final. The team has been growing in the competition, playing increasingly better games, and we're coming into the final strong and focused, aiming to add another trophy to our youth soccer achievements in 2018," said Rodrigo Nunes, Technical Coordinator of the U-13 category.