Not even cautious coach Andrade expected Flamengo to face so many difficulties in Wednesday's match against Olaria at the Maracanã. The Flamengo manager, however, prefers to emphasize that the team from Gávea achieved its objective: qualifying early for the semifinals of the Guanabara Cup. Winning the title in the first round of the Campeonato Carioca is the Flamengo team's goal, which will give them more time to prepare for the Copa Libertadores da América.

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"I had already warned the players about the difficulty we would face against Olaria, but I didn't believe it would be that difficult. The important thing is that we qualified for the next round. That was our goal, and now it's up to us to finish first," he analyzed.

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Until the first match of the international competition, on February 24th, the Flamengo coach has 20 days to make adjustments to his team's defense, which has been conceding a lot of goals at the beginning of the year. They've already conceded 12 goals in just six games. However, Andrade maintains that the important thing is to score more goals than concede, and Flamengo has been doing this well. The duo of Adriano and Vagner Love alone has scored 11, and the team has 18 goals in total.

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"I played on a team like that, one that conceded a lot of goals, but because they also scored a lot of goals, no one noticed. Of course, it's a high number and a cause for concern, but I believe that with some adjustments in the marking, this can be resolved. It's difficult to work a lot on tactics with games in the middle and end of the week, and this early qualification was also important for that reason, giving us more time to focus on preparation," he explained.

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One of the players who could be crucial in protecting the defense is defensive midfielder Willians. The number eight was scheduled to start again this Wednesday, but he suffered an injury during the final test before going on the field and was ruled out by the medical department.