Mercosul champions in 1999 with Flamengo relive the final and play with age

Last Friday (20), the historical title of the Cup Mercosur from 1999 completed 25 years. After winning the first game 4-3, Flamengo showed its strength by achieving a thrilling 3-3 draw in the return match, guaranteeing the conquest of the continental title. Rodrigo Mendes, scorer of one of the goals in the decision, and Lê, responsible for the title goal, recalled the achievement.

Lê, then just 20 years old, joked about the time he had spent, highlighting the emotion of having lived one of the great moments of club history.

"I'm getting too old to start the story (laughs), but it's really rewarding for us I've been rooting for a team since I was a kid. I've always had something about Flamengo. Lençol, ball, everything was Flamengo. I arrived at 11 years at Gávea and I have a great trajectory, a lot of goals. I stood out a lot at the youth level and when I arrived at 17, 18 years of age as a professional and at 20 years old, at that time it was difficult to be playing because there were so many. stars, nowadays it's easier, kids have to play to be sold quickly, they have to play a certain number of games to appear", says the former player in an interview with the portal 'MundoBola Flamengo’.

"The greatest happiness is knowing that I made history. It's a big book like Flamengo that every day tells a new story and I have my page there, a cool goal page in the title. It appears who scores the goal, we say that there can be a striker with 30, 40, 50 passes to goal, but what? OK It's who puts the ball in. It was important for me at that moment, Flamengo living in a very bad time of uncertainty, without money, salary delays, a reality totally different from what it is today", continues Lê.

Rodrigo Mendes also cherished the memories of that season. The player highlighted the strength of the red and black squad and the determination that led Flamengo to the title.

"99, particularly for me, was very special. It was a year in which I played a lot Flamengo, I had the opportunity to play all of Carioca's games, score the title goal And although we weren't doing so well in the Brazilian Championship, then we started a streak. who left us reach the final", comments the former striker.

The rivalry with Palmeiras in 1999

That year, Palmeiras was going through a great moment, having won the Libertadores and faced Manchester United in the Club World Cup. However, in Mercosur, Flamengo was the one who imposed itself. Rodrigo Mendes highlighted the extra motivation generated by previous clashes between the teams.

"Palmeiras had just been Libertadores champion, right? And he had disqualified us there at that time Brazilian Cup. In that situation at that game at Parque Antártica. So, in reality, there was a lot of desire for revenge, especially after the first game there at Maracanã, which we won. from4 to 3. We were going to São Paulo with a great desire for revenge", he remembers.

The 1999 Copa Mercosul remains a milestone in Flamengo's history, celebrating the resilience and talent of a generation that faced challenges and wrote his name in the history of South American football.