Flamengo played its last friendly match of this preseason against Orlando City, on Saturday afternoon (27), at Inter&Co Stadium. The red-black team drew 1-1, with a goal scored by number 9, Pedro. Mengão now travels to Rio de Janeiro and will resume work at Ninho do Urubu to face Sampaio Corrêa, in Belém, on the 31st.

The game

Flamengo started with a strong showing. In the 12th minute, De La Cruz provided a good pass to Uruguayan Varela, who crossed for Pedro to score a beautiful first-time shot, opening the scoring for Mengão. Flamengo dominated the match, and in the 27th minute, De La Cruz was fouled. Arrascaeta's free kick was headed straight at Fabrício Bruno, who headed it into the goalkeeper's hands.

In the final moments of the first half, in the 40th minute, Arrascaeta found a beautiful pass to Pedro, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper but shot wide. After this move, Orlando City responded and tied the match. In the final play of the first half, Gerson set up Cebolinha, but the ball went over the opponent's goal.

The second half began without any dangerous moves. Tite took advantage of the opportunity to experiment with options and give minutes to youth academy players Cleiton and Luis Aucélio, a midfielder for the under-17s last season who made his senior debut in this match. In the 38th minute, Wesley received a beautiful backheel pass from Luis Araújo, who crossed, but no one could reach it. Soon after, at the end of the match, debutant Luis Aucélio attempted a shot from outside the box, but was blocked; the ball then fell to Luiz Araújo, who shot over the opposing goal. The second half served as a time for coach Tite to test tactical variations and new faces on the team. 

Next appointment

Now, Flamengo returns to Rio de Janeiro and will take to the field to face Sampaio Corrêa next Wednesday (31), at the Mangueirão stadium.

Data sheet:

FC Series, international pre-season friendly

Orlando City 1 x 1 Flamengo

Date and time: 27/01/2024, at 16:XNUMX pm (Brasília time)

Location: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando (USA)

lineups

Flamengo

Rossi; Varela (Cleiton), Fabricio Bruno, Léo Pereira (David Luiz) and Ayrton Lucas (Wesley); Pulgar (Allan), Gerson (Luis Aucélio) and Arrascaeta [Victor Hugo (Matheus Gonçalves)]; De La Cruz (Luiz Araújo); Everton Cebolinha (Bruno Henrique) and Pedro (Gabigol)

Orlando City

Gallese (Stajduhar); Thorhallsson (Taifi), Jansson (Williams), Schlegel and Rafael Santos (Smith); Cartagena (Mohammed), Koceviski (Felipe Martins) and Lodeiro (Ramiro Enrique); Facundo Torres (Lynn), Angulo (Rivera) and McGuire (Halliday)

Goals: Pedro (FLA) and Angulo (ORL)

Yellows: Cartagena (ORL), Varela (FLA), Bruno Henrique (FLA), Felipe Martins (ORL) and Williams (ORL)