After the victory over Grêmio on Sunday morning (21), at the Mané Garrincha stadium, in Brasília, the red-black coach Zé Ricardo spoke to journalists at a press conference. Satisfied with the triumph in the direct confrontation that kept Flamengo firm in the fight for the top positions in the Brasileirão table, the coach is also already looking at the South American, which starts for Mais Querido this Wednesday (24), at 21:45 pm, in a match against Figueirense, at the Orlando Scarpelli stadium.

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Check out the main excerpts from the interview:

Damião

"A player who didn't reach the level he did, playing for the national team and abroad, by chance. Now the most important thing is to create a good environment for him to perform at his best. His desire to return to being a strong figure on the national stage is strong. He's determined... and working the way he does, there's no way he won't succeed. He played a great game, even helping with the recovery."

"We're hammering home the point. God willing, in the final stretch, including a return to Maracanã, we'll fight for the national title. But it's still too early; we have some very tough matches ahead of us. We're taking it one game at a time."

"I'm very happy with today's victory. Besides the head-to-head record, we were competitive against a great team like Grêmio. That gives us credibility."

"The South American is a big goal for the club. But it will also be a big challenge against Figueirense at the Orlando Scarpelli stadium. We won't prioritize competition A or B. We'll compete in both and we'll go in there to do well." 

- Great debut. Our idea was to work 60 minutes, he even lasted a little longer.

- Experienced player who has regained confidence with each game, is showing it day by day and today was very important in the coverage, in addition to achieving a beautiful play in the second goal (he provided an assist for Diego).

"It's an iconic number, a difficult milestone to achieve. I congratulate the club on that. We're happy that Damião, who's starting the match for the first time, scored the goal. But the issue is match situation and training time. I don't see any surprises if we can use both players (Damião and Guerrero) at the same time."