Flamengo's last chance in the Libertadores
Rubro-Negro begins the round of 16 series against Corinthians this Wednesday at Maracanã
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
"This is our last chance. It's time to show our full potential." These words from one of Flamengo's most warrior-minded players clearly illustrate how the red-and-black team will take the field this Wednesday at 21:50 p.m. at Maracanã. The team faces Corinthians in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores Round of XNUMX and promises to repay the fans' support with a strong desire on the field.
The red-and-black team's first mission in the match is to avoid conceding a goal. Since away goals are a tiebreaker in the competition regulations, the Gávea team's defense is alert to the dangers of Corinthians' attack. For goalkeeper Bruno, the best weapon to overcome Ronaldo and company is intelligence.
"It's a 180-minute game. There's no point in going forward desperately because you're playing at home and then conceding a goal on the counterattack, because then it's harder to turn things around in the second leg. The important thing is to go out on the field intelligently, not rush into decisions, and try to give your all so we don't concede any goals at the Maracanã," he analyzed.
Defender Ronaldo Angelim believes that collective effort can be the key differentiator for the red-and-blacks. Betting on the strength and unity of the squad, the defender is confident of a strong performance soon.
"Marking is the responsibility of all the players, not just David and I. We hope to play a great team game, and we know that can make a difference. We've conceded a lot of goals this year, and now is a good time to turn that around. If we don't concede a goal here, that's already a great step," he said.
One of the main attractions of this match is the duel between Ronaldo and Adriano. The two center forwards are the star players of the match, but right-back Leonardo Moura, who is also expected to battle with Corinthians left-back Roberto Carlos, believes the battles will be intense across the pitch.
"I think it's going to be an interesting duel. He's a great player, but I'm going to try to get him to run a lot, just like he'll do with me. There will be great duels in every area of the field, and I'm sure it's going to be a very good match," he explained.
Rogério's big test
Rogério Lourenço is one of the most interested in the upcoming match. In charge of the team temporarily following Andrade's departure, the Brazilian U-20 national team manager hopes to take an important step toward his tenure with a victory over Corinthians.
"Honestly, I'm only concerned about a good performance. My main job these past two days was to get the team playing well again. I needed to get the players' emotions going, and the main step toward that is to reverse this situation in tomorrow's game. My goal is to get the team to do its best in this game, because that's why I took over," said the coach, who doesn't care about the fact that he's facing the best team in the Copa Libertadores qualifying round.
"In major competitions, you're always going to come up against great teams. It's obvious that this matchup is happening early, but we can't think about whether it's better or worse for us. In recent years, we've seen the last-place team defeat the first-place team many times, and if we go back to my time, in the old Brazilian Championship, I saw this happen several times in the knockout stages," he concluded.
TECHNICAL SHEET
FLAMENGO X CORINTHIANS
Stadium: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Date/Time: 28/4/2010, às 21h50
Referee: Carlos Arecio Amarilla (PAR)
Auxiliaries: Emigdio Ruiz (PAR) and Nicolás Adolfo Yegros (PAR)
FLAMENGO: Bruno; Léo Moura, David, Angelim and Juan; Romulo, Maldonado, Willians and Michael, Love and Adriano. Technical: Rogerio Lourenço.
CORINTHIANS: Julio Cesar, Moacir, Chicão, William and Roberto Carlos; Ralf, Jucilei, Elias and Danilo; Dentinho and Ronaldo. Technical: Mano Menezes.
The red-and-black team's first mission in the match is to avoid conceding a goal. Since away goals are a tiebreaker in the competition regulations, the Gávea team's defense is alert to the dangers of Corinthians' attack. For goalkeeper Bruno, the best weapon to overcome Ronaldo and company is intelligence.
"It's a 180-minute game. There's no point in going forward desperately because you're playing at home and then conceding a goal on the counterattack, because then it's harder to turn things around in the second leg. The important thing is to go out on the field intelligently, not rush into decisions, and try to give your all so we don't concede any goals at the Maracanã," he analyzed.
Defender Ronaldo Angelim believes that collective effort can be the key differentiator for the red-and-blacks. Betting on the strength and unity of the squad, the defender is confident of a strong performance soon.
"Marking is the responsibility of all the players, not just David and I. We hope to play a great team game, and we know that can make a difference. We've conceded a lot of goals this year, and now is a good time to turn that around. If we don't concede a goal here, that's already a great step," he said.
One of the main attractions of this match is the duel between Ronaldo and Adriano. The two center forwards are the star players of the match, but right-back Leonardo Moura, who is also expected to battle with Corinthians left-back Roberto Carlos, believes the battles will be intense across the pitch.
"I think it's going to be an interesting duel. He's a great player, but I'm going to try to get him to run a lot, just like he'll do with me. There will be great duels in every area of the field, and I'm sure it's going to be a very good match," he explained.
Rogério's big test
Rogério Lourenço is one of the most interested in the upcoming match. In charge of the team temporarily following Andrade's departure, the Brazilian U-20 national team manager hopes to take an important step toward his tenure with a victory over Corinthians.
"Honestly, I'm only concerned about a good performance. My main job these past two days was to get the team playing well again. I needed to get the players' emotions going, and the main step toward that is to reverse this situation in tomorrow's game. My goal is to get the team to do its best in this game, because that's why I took over," said the coach, who doesn't care about the fact that he's facing the best team in the Copa Libertadores qualifying round.
"In major competitions, you're always going to come up against great teams. It's obvious that this matchup is happening early, but we can't think about whether it's better or worse for us. In recent years, we've seen the last-place team defeat the first-place team many times, and if we go back to my time, in the old Brazilian Championship, I saw this happen several times in the knockout stages," he concluded.
TECHNICAL SHEET
FLAMENGO X CORINTHIANS
Stadium: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Date/Time: 28/4/2010, às 21h50
Referee: Carlos Arecio Amarilla (PAR)
Auxiliaries: Emigdio Ruiz (PAR) and Nicolás Adolfo Yegros (PAR)
FLAMENGO: Bruno; Léo Moura, David, Angelim and Juan; Romulo, Maldonado, Willians and Michael, Love and Adriano. Technical: Rogerio Lourenço.
CORINTHIANS: Julio Cesar, Moacir, Chicão, William and Roberto Carlos; Ralf, Jucilei, Elias and Danilo; Dentinho and Ronaldo. Technical: Mano Menezes.