Last Saturday, Fabrício Dornellas turned 20 years old. And not even the player himself expected to receive such a generous gift from coach Andrade. The defender trained in place of Ronaldo Angelim at Ninho do Urubu and is expected to be Flamengo's starting defense, alongside Álvaro, in the team's first match in the Copa Libertadores this year.

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Flamengo faces Universidad Católica on Wednesday at 21:50 p.m. at Maracanã Stadium. For this match, the Flamengo coach believes the team needs a stronger defense to prevent the team from becoming vulnerable to the Chilean team's aerial attacks. And Fabrício assures: he's ready for the task.

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"Andrade talked to me and said he needed a taller player. There are a lot of aerial balls in the Libertadores. I'm ready to come in," he said.

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A product of the club's youth academy, Fabrício has always lived up to expectations when called upon. The player has been highly praised by fans and the coaching staff alike. In recent years, the defender had a strong campaign with Paraná in 2008 and also played for Hoffenheim in Germany in the first half of 2009. Now, he hopes to establish himself as a starter for Flamengo.

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"Andrade has placed his trust in me. We'll see how it goes in my debut on Wednesday. A player always has to be ready to go in. That's why I'm training hard and I won't have any problems," he said.

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Regarding Flamengo's high number of goals conceded at the beginning of the year, Fabrício believes that as the team gets better, this will no longer be a problem. The number 20 also says that conceding a goal isn't always the fault of a defender.

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"The team is getting better and getting more together. The number of goals will decrease, but a goal conceded isn't always just the fault of the defenders," he concluded.

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Fabrício has already played nine professional games for Flamengo. The Flamengo defender excelled in the youth ranks in 2007, was promoted and loaned out in 2008, and then returned, only to be renegotiated on loan. It wasn't until the second half of 2009 that Fabrício returned to Gávea, and by all accounts, this time to stay. Learn more about the player's career on Flapédia.