He's already played abroad, won the Copa Sudamericana title, and been a Brazilian champion with Flamengo, but he wants another feat to add to his resume: winning the Copa Libertadores with the Gávea club. Experienced defender Álvaro dreams of this moment and believes that if the team succeeds in the international competition, he will "stop Brazil."

\

The Flamengo defender believes that patience and intelligence will be the key words for Flamengo's campaign in the Libertadores. He's well acquainted with the South American teams' playing style and believes that coach Andrade's team will have to excel not only technically but also tactically and physically.

\

"The Libertadores is a different kind of championship, where you need a lot of patience. Foreign teams aren't always technically skilled, but they have a lot of tactical discipline and excellent physical fitness. You have to play intelligently and have a united group to seek victories no matter what," he analyzed.

\

For Álvaro, Flamengo can learn many lessons from its match against Botafogo last Wednesday, when the team was eliminated from the Guanabara Cup. After all, several South American teams play in the same way as Joel Santana's team.

\

"We're going to encounter many teams with similar schemes to Botafogo in the Libertadores and we have to be prepared for that," he noted.

\

Feeling that the red-black team's biggest goal this season is to win the Libertadores for the second time, Álvaro is already dreaming about this feat and hopes to "stop Brazil" with the victory.

\

"The pressure to win a title like this is huge, but I see this group prepared, even more so after what happened in the semifinal. I can't imagine the impact of Flamengo potentially winning the Libertadores. Everything here is bigger. I think we would stop Brazil, and that gives us even greater motivation to fight for this achievement," he added.