Maldonado laments a season below expectations.
The Chilean midfielder, however, asks the team to forget bad results and focus on a positive end to the year.
By From the official website team - in
The 2010 season hasn't been the best for Flamengo. The team entered the year surrounded by high expectations, but hasn't achieved the desired results. However, in this final stretch of the Brazilian Championship, there's still one objective that could become a reality for Flamengo next year: a spot in the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. This motivates the players to achieve good results against Cruzeiro and Santos.
Midfielder Maldonado, who has played for both the Minas Gerais and São Paulo teams, knows that the matches will not be easy, but he urges Flamengo to have confidence that they can indeed win the last two matches of the 2010 Brazilian Championship.
"We have to start dreaming again. We have to forget all the bad things that happened this year. We're going to do everything possible in Sunday's game. Looking back, you see that the team has quality. It's impossible that we're at the bottom of the table. We're going to play a great game and finally put an end to this bad feeling," said the player, who admits that he didn't expect a season below expectations.
"I didn't expect this to happen. In many games we played well, but the team didn't win, didn't get any points. We lost a lot of points at home. Which isn't good for the final stretch. We have to face reality, know that everyone is available, focused on overcoming what this year has in store for us," he stated.
Maldonado also emphasizes that the match against Cruzeiro is crucial for Flamengo in the competition. According to him, a possible relegation to Serie B is not even on the minds of the Flamengo players.
"This game is crucial for us. We know our responsibility to prevent Flamengo from being relegated. It's not even on our minds. We know it could happen, but we have to be fully focused," he added.
Midfielder Maldonado, who has played for both the Minas Gerais and São Paulo teams, knows that the matches will not be easy, but he urges Flamengo to have confidence that they can indeed win the last two matches of the 2010 Brazilian Championship.
"We have to start dreaming again. We have to forget all the bad things that happened this year. We're going to do everything possible in Sunday's game. Looking back, you see that the team has quality. It's impossible that we're at the bottom of the table. We're going to play a great game and finally put an end to this bad feeling," said the player, who admits that he didn't expect a season below expectations.
"I didn't expect this to happen. In many games we played well, but the team didn't win, didn't get any points. We lost a lot of points at home. Which isn't good for the final stretch. We have to face reality, know that everyone is available, focused on overcoming what this year has in store for us," he stated.
Maldonado also emphasizes that the match against Cruzeiro is crucial for Flamengo in the competition. According to him, a possible relegation to Serie B is not even on the minds of the Flamengo players.
"This game is crucial for us. We know our responsibility to prevent Flamengo from being relegated. It's not even on our minds. We know it could happen, but we have to be fully focused," he added.
Follow Flamengo's official Twitter profile
\Check out the promotions page on Flamengo's Official Website
Check out the video gallery on Flamengo's Official Website
\Check out the photo gallery on Flamengo's Official Website
\Check out the audio gallery on Flamengo's Official Website