After securing third place last year, Flamengo's under-19 team will face major challenges at the 2008 Malaysia International Tournament, considered the World Cup for the category. The red-and-black team is in Group A, which also includes Barcelona, ​​PSV, and the Indian national team.

Flamengo's coach, Adílio, analyzed the opponents in the first phase and said that the team from Gávea is already preparing for the tournament.

“Barcelona is the strongest club we will face in this group. We already played PSV and they played very defensively, trying to counter-attack. It was quite difficult. We only won 1-0. The Indian national team is unknown. It's impossible to know what kind of work they are doing there. It's a difficult group like all the others, but we are already working towards this important competition. We are already working full-time.”

In addition to Paulo Sérgio and Airton, Adílio is also counting on Erick Flores for the international competition.

"Erick Flores is training with the professionals, and we'll see what the club decides. We've put him on our list. We're counting on him."

Each group in the tournament features, in addition to three major clubs from around the world, an under-19 national team from Asia. The competition will be held between August 2nd and 17th. The current champion, Manchester United, who eliminated Flamengo in last year's semi-final, is in Group D.

Malaysia Champions Cup Groups: Group A: Barcelona, ​​PSV, Flamengo and India; Group B: Milan, Chelsea, Ajax and Malaysia; Group C: Lyon, Bayern Munich, River Plate and Qatar; Group D: Manchester United, Juventus, Porto and China