Executioners! Bruno Henrique and Pedro have already scored nine combined for Flamengo against Corinthians

Brazil ended its participation in the Paris Paralympics this Sunday (8) with its best campaign in the history of the competition. According to the objective established by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, the Brazilian delegation in Paris broke the record for medals in a single edition of the Games, with 89, achieved the highest number of golds, 25, and secured the unprecedented top 5 in the medals table.

It was not easy to secure fifth place. After spending the first few days among the five best countries at the Paralympics, Brazil came to occupy eighth place in the medals quarter at the end of Thursday (5), four days before the end of the Games. But from Friday (6) recovery came. With four gold medals won, Brazil reached seventh place and came up against France and Italy, which would become the great opponent for fifth place.

Medal after medal, Brazil and Italy fought for the top 5 in the table of medals. On Saturday (7), Brazilian athletes secured the country's best day in the history of the Paralympics with six golds, three silvers and seven bronzes, and sixth place in the classification. With such a performance, Brazil surpassed the 72 podiums and 22 gold medals from Tokyo 2022, achieving its best campaign in both categories.

However, it still lacked a position in the top five. The Italians had 24 gold medals, one more gold medal than Brazil, and slept in fifth place. That would change this Sunday morning (8).

In the first events of the last day of the race, Brazil won two more gold medals and overtook Italy. First, Fernando Rufino was champion in canoeing, winning gold in the 200m VL2 and leaving the countries tied. The race also had another Brazilian on the podium. Igor Tofalini finished in second place and took silver. Then, in the event that would bring the top 5 to Brazil, Tayana Medeiros broke the Paralympic record by lifting 156kg in the 86kg category and took gold.

Italy did not win any competition and no longer competes in competitions. Thus, Brazil guaranteed its best campaign in the history of the Paralympics. The great Brazilian highlights, as usual, were athletics, which reached its 200th medals won, and swimming, with 36 for the first and 26 for the second discipline.

The Brazilian team welcomed defender Fabrício Bruno this Sunday, but even so, coach Dorival Júnior did not have the complete group for training in Curitiba. Physically worn out, left-back Guilherme Arana, midfielders André and Lucas Paquetá and striker Vini Júnior were absent from the activity held at Athletico-PR's Caju training center.

According to the CBF, the quartet was only out of training due to load control and has no injuries. This way, Dorival will only have training this Monday to prepare the squad to face Paraguay. The duel valid for the eighth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers will take place on Tuesday, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time), at the Defensores del Chaco stadium, in Asunción.

Summoned up to replace Éder Militão, cut , Fabrício Bruno arrived in Curitiba this Sunday morning and, in the afternoon, he went to the field with his teammates. The press was only able to follow the first 15 minutes of the activity.

This Monday, Brazil plays the last work before the match against Paraguay. Then, embark for Asunción. After beating Ecuador 1-0 last Friday, the Seleção occupies fourth place in the Qualifiers, with 10 points, eight less than leaders Argentina.

The Flamengo has adopted a game strategy that is not entirely consensual among fans: the frequent use of direct links between defense and attack. Although this approach is not preferred by the fans, it has become a recurring feature in Rubro-Negro matches. The lack of a well-defined style of play under Tite's command means that the team is looking for quick alternatives to attack, especially in the face of injuries to players who are essential for creating plays.

A survey carried out by the portal 'Noite de Copa' revealed interesting data about this characteristic of Flamengo since the team's return after the Copa América. According to the study, Mengão attempted 646 long balls in their recent matches, which represents an average of 49 per game. Of these throws, 304 were accurate (approximately 23 per game), while 342 ended in errors (approximately 26 per game). This results in an efficiency rate of 47% in these long passes.

One of the factors that contribute to this long throw strategy it is the absence of important players to create the plays. Injuries to athletes like Arrascaeta and De La Cruz, both crucial for the midfield sector of Flamengo, have forced the team to look for alternatives. These two players are responsible for much of the organization of the game and the distribution of passes that feed the attack. Without them, Flamengo loses much of its ability to maintain ball possession and create plays through quick and dynamic exchanges of passes.

Faced with this scenario, the team has resorted to long throws as a way to compensate for the lack of creation in midfield. The idea behind this tactic is to make attackers able to escape the opponent's marking using speed, seeking to surprise rival defenses and create scoring opportunities. However, this long ball strategy has not always proven to be efficient, as evidenced by the success rate of just 47%.