Coach Andrade has been hammering home the same message since the start of the Campeonato Carioca: you have to play seriously and earn as many points as possible against teams considered small. And his players seem to have gotten the message. Proof of this was Flamengo's strong second-half performance in their 3-1 victory over Tigres this Thursday (March 24.03) at Engenhão Stadium.

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For the coach, it took a while for the team to fully focus on victory. After all, the good result only came after the Xerém team opened the scoring. However, Andrade emphasized his team's resilience.

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"In the first half, the team started a little slowly, and only woke up after conceding the goal. Then, they went on the attack and managed to equalize. Something was missing, I talked to them, and I saw the improvement in the second half. The team moved more, ran more, created many chances, and deserved to win the game," he analyzed.

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The red-and-black manager doesn't blame his players for their slightly subpar start to the match. According to him, it's more than normal for the group to feel a difference when playing against lesser-known teams.

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"The motivation has to be the same in any game. A game like this is worth three points, just like the derby, but I know it's different for the player. He feels a game with a small crowd. I know that, and perhaps with a full stadium it would be a different attitude, but that's normal," he added.

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Next Sunday, Flamengo has another challenge against one of these so-called small teams: they face América, at 16 pm, at Engenhão.