Aside from the natural motivation of playing his first state derby in a Flamengo jersey, the fact that the match is against Fluminense, his former club, doesn't faze midfielder Roger. For the player, Thursday's match at 20:30 p.m. at Maracanã is important for other reasons.

"For me, it doesn't make any difference having Fluminense as our opponent. I've faced my former club a few times before and I never saw it as something special, something that gave me extra motivation or even intimidated me in any way. It's going to be an important match, of course, because it's a derby and we need a win to improve our position in the championship. Flamengo needs to win and that's all I'll be thinking about when I step onto the field."