Michael returns to the starting lineup this Saturday
Midfielder celebrates new opportunity and hopes to live up to the hype at Barradão
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
SALVADOR - Flamengo will have a new formation for this Saturday's match against Vitória at Barradão Stadium. Coach Rogério Lourenço opted to make changes to two key midfielders. Toró replaced Rômulo to protect the defense. The other substitution was tactical: defensive midfielder Maldonado was replaced by creative midfielder Michael. Happy with another opportunity for the red-and-black team, the player celebrated the opportunity and hopes to perform well against Vitória.
This will be Michael's seventh start and his tenth for Flamengo. To date, he has scored two goals and provided three assists. However, against Corinthians in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16, he was sent off and hasn't started a match since. Now back in the first team, he hopes to shine in Salvador.
"Since I got my first opportunity, I've played well most of the time. Unfortunately, there was that careless moment against Corinthians. But that's in the past. I respected the coach's decision regarding Wednesday and knew I could soon regain my place in the starting lineup," he emphasized.
Michael will share the playmaking role with Kleberson and is thrilled to be playing alongside a player who will compete in the World Cup in South Africa. With another man in charge of creating plays, Michael believes he can be even more effective in helping Flamengo overcome Vitória and head into next Thursday's match against Universidad de Chile with high morale, which everyone at Gávea is considering the club's most important of the year.
"It's always good for the team to have more players in the creative role. Especially one from the Brazilian national team, like Kleberson. I think Flamengo will be more aggressive with this formation. We hope to play a great game and that this can further boost our momentum for the Copa Libertadores final next week," he concluded.
This will be Michael's seventh start and his tenth for Flamengo. To date, he has scored two goals and provided three assists. However, against Corinthians in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16, he was sent off and hasn't started a match since. Now back in the first team, he hopes to shine in Salvador.
"Since I got my first opportunity, I've played well most of the time. Unfortunately, there was that careless moment against Corinthians. But that's in the past. I respected the coach's decision regarding Wednesday and knew I could soon regain my place in the starting lineup," he emphasized.
Michael will share the playmaking role with Kleberson and is thrilled to be playing alongside a player who will compete in the World Cup in South Africa. With another man in charge of creating plays, Michael believes he can be even more effective in helping Flamengo overcome Vitória and head into next Thursday's match against Universidad de Chile with high morale, which everyone at Gávea is considering the club's most important of the year.
"It's always good for the team to have more players in the creative role. Especially one from the Brazilian national team, like Kleberson. I think Flamengo will be more aggressive with this formation. We hope to play a great game and that this can further boost our momentum for the Copa Libertadores final next week," he concluded.