Flamengo's youth academy continues to make the Red-Black Nation proud in the 2018 season. The U-15 team, led by coach Mario Jorge, has been attracting attention at the Nike Premier Cup, a major competition with its national phase taking place this week at the Red Bull Brasil training center in Janiru, a city in the Campinas region of São Paulo. The national champion will qualify for the world final, which will be held in August in Austria and will feature teams from all continents.

In Janiru, the Garotos do Ninho had an undefeated campaign of three wins and two draws in the first phase, and qualified in first place in Group C, with victories over Atlético MG (2x1), Sport (4x2) and Grêmio (3x1), and draws against Corinthians and Palmeiras, both by the score of 0x0, and which guaranteed the leadership of the group for Mais Querido.

In the semi-final that will be played this Saturday afternoon (14) at 15 pm, Rubro-Negro will meet Grêmio again, seeking to achieve the initial objective of reaching the national final and with the ambition of winning on Sunday, the day of the grand final, the passage to the world stage in Austria, in August. São Paulo and Santos face each other in the other semi-final.

"In the first phase, competing in a very balanced group, we managed to win three very difficult matches, starting well and gaining even more confidence. Interestingly, in my opinion, our best match was our draw against Corinthians, as we were able to implement our strategy of playing the game and maintaining possession. Unfortunately, the ball didn't go in, but I was very pleased with the team's performance. Against Palmeiras, in the last round, we played a strategic game and secured our qualification," said coach Mario Jorge, who added: "Today we face Grêmio again, but in a completely different context. Both teams are exhausted after five days of consecutive matches, but we will study the best strategy to emerge victorious once again. Our club and our fans hold us accountable and cheer us on when we put in the effort. And our players do this with excellence in every game. We remain steadfast in our goal," concluded Mario Jorge.