Fla ignores Flu and thrashes rival in the final of the Junior OPG, in Gávea

Marcio Iannacca

From GLOBOESPORTE.COM\ With Paulo Sérgio, Kayke, Thiago Sales, and Marcinho on the field, Flamengo defeated Fluminense 5-0 in the first leg of the Octávio Pinto Guimarães Tournament (OPG) final for juniors. Flamengo fans who watched the match saw the performance of these players and could well imagine themselves in a professional team match, since all of these athletes have already played for the first team.\

The decisive match will be on Wednesday at 15 p.m., with no set location. The match could be played in Xerém or Laranjeiras. The Tricolor board has yet to finalize its decision. Flamengo is fighting for its second consecutive title.

Fla kills the game in the first half

Leveraging the experience of their senior players, Flamengo overcame Fluminense. Their more experienced players took control of the game and dictated the pace. In the 10th minute, Rodrigo Andrade, another standout player, opened the scoring after a beautiful play by Kayke, a forward who is one of Joel Santana's prospects and has been consistently called up to the senior squad.

Next, Paulo Sérgio made a beautiful play and was brought down in the box. A penalty for Flamengo. Kayke asked to take it and extended the lead for Flamengo in the 13th minute. Fluminense tried hard to close the gap, but experience spoke louder. In the 43rd minute, Thiago Sales capitalized on a Paulo Sérgio cross and scored the third.

Flu tries, but Fla manages

Fluminense returned from halftime determined to close the gap. Flamengo, however, managed the result. The team played on the counterattack and knew how to shut down their rival. Paulo Sérgio, in the 25th minute, scored the most beautiful goal of the match. The player flicked a ball over an opponent and beat the goalkeeper to score. The few fans who showed up at Gávea were overjoyed.

With Fluminense beaten, Flamengo slowed down. Even so, the red-and-black team scored their fifth goal, with Anderson scoring after a beautiful pass from Kayke, another highlight of the match.

Flamengo\ Paulo Victor, Davidson, Anderson, Thiago Sales, Leo Ribeiro, Marcinho, Diego Moura, Erick Flores (William), Rodrigo Andrade (Wander), Kayke, Paulo Sergio (Bruno Mezenga) T: Adilio\

Fluminense\ Kléver, Renan, Sandro, Rodrigo, Diego, Mayaro, Fernando, Noel (Felipe), Tartá, Leo Itaperuna, Alan (Vinicius) T: Edgar\

Goals: Rodrigo Andrade, in the 10th minute, Kayke, in the 13th minute, and Thiago Sales, in the 43rd minute of the first half; Paulo Sérgio, in the 25th minute, Anderson, in the 33rd minute of the second half\ Yellow cards: Paulo Victor, Marcinho, Thiago Sales (Fla); Tartá (Flu)\ Referee: Élcio Azevedo (RJ)\ Date: 24/11/2007\ Stadium: Gávea, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)\