The dream of competing in the 2008 Libertadores got closer and closer. On Sunday night (11/11), Flamengo beat Santos 1-0, with a goal by Souza, and jumped to third place in the Brazilian Championship, with 58 points.

On the field, Flamengo started the match better, enjoying more possession and finding the Santos goal more easily. The first major threat came from Santos. Rodrigo Souto burst into the box and shot close to the red-and-black goal.

Flamengo's response came soon after. Léo Moura found Renato Augusto free in the box. The midfielder fired a powerful shot, but Santos goalkeeper Fábio Costa palmed it away for a corner. In the 16th minute, Cristian took a shot from distance, but the ball went just wide of the goal.

Flamengo continued to press, and Juan, in the 37th minute, took a dangerous free kick, which Fábio Costa cleared wide. Santos still threatened at the end of the first half, with shots from Rodrigo Tabata in the 40th minute and Rodrigo Souto four minutes later. The first half ended 0-0.

In the second half, Flamengo continued to press for a goal. Ten minutes in, Cristian unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box, which the Santos goalkeeper saved.

The red-and-black team controlled the game, but couldn't turn their dominance around with scoring chances. Santos was quite dangerous on quick counterattacks with Rodrigo Tabata, Pedrinho, and Kleber Pereira.

In the 28th minute, coach Joel Santana decided to make changes to the team. He took off Jaílton and Toró and brought on Obina and Roger, giving the team more attacking power. The changes paid off, and in the 31st minute, Souza completed a pass from Fábio Luciano and headed it in to make it 1-0 to Flamengo.

The Santos team went on the attack, but goalkeeper Bruno was having an inspired night, and made two beautiful saves at the end of the game, guaranteeing the red-black victory, and putting Flamengo in an excellent position to guarantee a place in the 2008 Copa Libertadores.

MATCH SHEET: FLAMENGO 1 X 0 SANTOS Date/Time: 11/11/2007 - 18:10 (Brasília time) Stadium: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ) Referee: Evandro Rogério Roman (PR) Assistants: Roberto Braatz (PR) and Erick Bandeira (PE) Revenue/Attendance: R$ 1.805.690,00/ 81.844 paying spectators (87.716 present) Yellow Cards: Toró (FLA); Maldonado, Pedrinho, Rodrigo Tabata (SAN) Red Cards: none GOAL: Souza, 30'/2nd half (1-0) FLAMENGO: Bruno, Léo Moura, Fabio Luciano, Ronaldo Angelim and Juan; Jaílton (Obina - 27'/2nd half), Cristian, Toró (Roger - 27'/2nd half) and Ibson; Souza (Léo Medeiros - 34'/2nd half) and Renato Augusto - Coach Joel Santana.\ SANTOS: Fábio Costa, Alessandro (Petkovic - 40'/2nd half), Domingos, Marcelo and Kleber; Rodrigo Souto, Maldonado, Pedrinho and Rodrigo Tabata; Adriano (Renatinho - 37'/2nd half) and Kleber Pereira - Coach: Vanderlei Luxemburgo.\