Flamengo's U-17 team, led by coach Phelipe Leal, currently leads the Guanabara Cup in Rio de Janeiro, debuted this Sunday (19) in the Evergrande Cup U-17 International Football Championship, a high-level international football competition held in China. The matches are being held at the Evergrande Football School, the world's largest football school, in the city of Qingyuan. There are more than 50 fields and facilities to accommodate more than 2500 young athletes from the Chinese club's youth teams. The final will be played at the Yuexiu Mountain Stadium, which has a capacity of 18 fans.

In their debut, the Boys of the Nest faced a tough challenge in a tightly contested match against Villarreal of Spain, who opened the scoring after just four minutes. The equalizer came in the first half, in the 22nd minute. Right-back Braian made a good individual play and crossed into the box. After a clearance from the defense, Luís Gustavo's shot was blocked by the opposing defense. The ball then fell to Gomes, who fired into the right corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Fighting for the second international title of the year in the Under-17 category, after winning the Dallas Cup in January in the United States, Flamengo returns to the field for the second round this Tuesday (21), when it faces Peñarol, from Uruguay, which leads group B after defeating the Chinese Hubei FA 3-1. According to the Evergrande Cup regulations, the top two teams in each group – the other is made up of Palmeiras, Dinamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Guangzhou Evergrande (China) and Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia) – qualify for the semi-finals, played in a knockout system.