Evander talks again about negotiations with Flamengo: "One of the biggest in Brazil and America"

The Brazilian team's call-up for the next two games of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will be made this Friday (27). Four players from Flamengo are on coach Dorival Júnior's pre-list: Ayrton Lucas, Fabrício Bruno, Gerson and Léo Ortiz. The official announcement of the 23 squad will take place at 1pm, at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil will face Chile on October 10th, at 9pm, at the National Stadium from Santiago. Next, the Seleção will play against Peru on October 15th, at 9:45 pm, at the Mané Garrincha Stadium, in Brasília.

The CBF notified Flamengo about the pre-convocation on October 20th. This is because, according to FIFA regulations, the 23 players can be defined up to ten days before the official presentation, but clubs with pre-summoned athletes must be informed 15 days in advance.

After being called up, the players will begin training at CT Joaquim Grava, in São Paulo, from October 7th. Two days later, the team leaves for Chile. The choice of the Corinthians CT is due to its proximity to Guarulhos airport, facilitating logistics and avoiding unnecessary travel.

Currently, Brazil occupies fifth place in the South American Qualifiers, with ten points in eight matches. Argentina leads with 18 points, followed by Colombia (16) and Uruguay (15). Just ahead of Brazil is Ecuador, with 11 points.

According to the regulations, the top six qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada , with an unprecedented 48-team format. The seventh-placed team will compete in a global playoff in March 2026.

Flamengo faces a major challenge in the offensive sector after the serious injury of top scorer Pedro, which will miss the team for the remainder of the season. Tite, responsible for assembling the squad, has been struggling to find an efficient solution that fills the gap left by the attacker. The coach has chosen to use Bruno Henrique as a center forward, but the strategy has not yet brought the expected results.

Gabigol and Carlinhos, other options available in the squad, have been used less, with both spending more time on the bench of reserves than on the field. This situation is directly reflected in the team's offensive performance, which has not been able to maintain the same efficiency it had with Pedro on the field.

Pedro's absence has been a big blow for Mais Querido, who depended on the striker to lead the offensive sector. In the 2024 season, number nine had already scored 30 goals, while the other three players in the position only scored 14 goals throughout the year. The situation is worsened by other absences, such as Cebolinha, out of action for the remainder of the year, and Luiz Araújo, who is recovering from arthroscopy.

Tite recognizes that the team was assembled around the Pedro's style of play, which makes adapting to a new formation even more complicated. "There was a lack of precision in the final moments, in the moments of definition to transform the volume of play into goals. The team was structured to play around Pedro, a player in the area, with presence and ability to retain the ball and use the aerial game" , said the coach.

Without Pedro, the coach of Flamengohas been testing different alternatives, but so far without success. Bruno Henrique was placed in the center forward role, while Gabigol and Carlinhos failed to convince in the opportunities they had. "We tried with Bruno Henrique, Gabi, Carlinhos, but we didn't get the expected final result. This offensive structure was lost a little", concluded Tite.

The transfer window opened on the 10th and Flamengo has already started moving in the market. O Mais Querido once again tried to sign Claudinho (Zenit) and has already reached an agreement with the player. However, the midfielder is not the only one the club wants again. This is because Evander has once again entered Rubro-Negro's sights.

According to information from journalist Tiago Brandão, from "Território MLS", Rubro-Negro consulted the contractual situation of Evander, who currently plays for Portland Timbers (USA). However, Mais Queridohas not yet made a proposal to the North American team, but has highlighted interest in the midfielder.

It is worth remembering that in mid-December and January, Flamengo sought to sign Evander. Rubro-Negro even offered 7 million dollars (R$ 34 million) for part of the athlete's economic rights. However, even with the midfielder's desire to play for the club, Portland did not release him.

After Portland refused the midfielder's proposal, Flamengo, Evander spoke about the negotiation with Rubro-Negro and highlighted that he would like to defend the club, but respected the decision of the North American team.

"He was really interested, that's a football thing. When a proposal comes from a team like Flamengo, one of the biggest in Brazil if not the biggest, arouses interest in us too. But it was a tough negotiation, it lasted a long time", he said, before concluding:

"The Portland took a stand, wanted to keep me, they didn't want to release me. It was a tough, difficult negotiation, but of course during the negotiation period, my mind changes. But today I'm focused on helping Portland", he highlighted, in an interview with the portal. 365 score.