FLAMENGO ADVANCES IN GOOGLE'S MOST SEARCHED SOUTH AMERICAN TEAMS AND THREATENS BOCA JÚNIORS

The Flamengo beat Atlético-Mg in the MRV Arena and isolated themselves at the top of the Brasileirão with 30 points. The duel against the Mineiros also ended up marking a new beginning for one of Rio's red-black players. That's because striker Carlinhos started the match and scored his first goal with the sacred mantle. In an interview, the player spoke about the moment, the goal and the mourning due to the recent death of his mother.

"(I would say) he is a winner. I'm a guy who never gave up. I lost my mother a few years ago. 15 days, I'm still grieving. It's been difficult, but I have to continue. As I always think, she dressed me in her armor. When she saw that I was ready, she left. me to say this. I know that she is in the arms of the Lord, and that is what comforts me. I want to tell (to Carlinhos at the beginning of the year) that I arrived here due to God's merit and my work", said Carlinhos, at half-time.

Carlinhos made his debut in the first round of the Brasileirão, against Atlético-GO, and then again had the opportunity as a starter against Palmeiras. The striker spent just 45 minutes on the field at Allianz. Carlinhos only played again against Juventude, but only spent four minutes on the field.

The chance to start against Atlético-MG came due to the physical exhaustion of Pedro, who is going through a sequence of games. Carlinhos scored the goal in the 24th minute after a play by Luiz Araújo and Wesley. The full-back shot, but the ball hit the post, and the number 22, well positioned, put it into the back of the net.

This Wednesday (3), Cuiabá fought until the end, but ended up defeated by Botafogo, 2-1, in the Arena Pantanal, in a game valid for the 14th round of the Brazilian Championship. In addition to losing their streak of five unbeaten games, Cuiabá already knows that they will have two absences for the next game, against Flamengo.

Cuiabá entered the field with four players suspended, and two of them received cards yellow and are suspended from the next round. The team's starting midfielder, Filipe Augusto was warned 11 minutes into the second half, for stepping on the opposing player after losing control of the ball.

Who also doesn't face Flamengo is striker André Luís. Reserve from the Mato Grosso team, the player left the bench in the 19th minute of the second half, replacing Clayson, and in the final stretch of the match, in the 40th minute, he received a yellow card after a foul on full-back Cuiabano.

Flamengo x Cuiabá

Flamengo and Cuiabá face each other next Saturday, July 6th, in a game valid for the 15th round of the Brazilian Championship. The match will be played at Maracanã, and the ball starts at 8pm (Brasília time). Initially, the match was scheduled for 9pm (Brasília time), but the CBF confirmed the change in time due to Brazil's game in the Copa América.

Flamengo arrived in Rio de Janeiro, on the morning of this Monday (18), with an unprecedented title in their luggage: Libertadores sub-20. The Boys from the Nest beat Boca Juniors 2-1 on Sunday. The team was undefeated champion and won the five games of the competition.

The vice-president of the base, Vitor Zanelli, celebrated the achievement and detailed the constant work with the Under-20s, mainly by the players who are loaned for the professional. The director recalled that goalkeeper Dyogo Alves, midfielder Victor Hugo and striker Matheus Gonçalves are integrated into the professional ranks, but would be old enough to compete in the U20 Libertadores.

"It's indescribable to reach the peak, right? top of America. We managed to win the top competition in South America. Now we start to want it again, we want one more. And then comes the World Cup. Flamengo has been doing work, a process of preparing the impeccable players, of the highest level, both for the athletes and for the results, for sales. These are processes, and the under-20 team is constantly reassembled, because of this. Players who go to the professional ranks, who are sold, and we need to reassemble the team and still manage to achieve everything ", he commented before continuing:

"The team that won the Brazilian Championship last year, four months ago, ten are not here (in this Libertadores champion team). We have players who are still under-20 and are already professional, they could be competing in the Libertadores. We will still have a transfer window in the middle of the year, and the World Cup will probably be after that window. So we have a constant reformulation. But we are aware of this, we know that it is natural for Flamengo. We do a lot of hard work in this preparation, capture", he concluded.

Flamengo beat Boca Juniors on Sunday afternoon (17) and won the unprecedented Libertadores under-20 title. Now, champion of In the South American competition, Mais Querido will also have the chance to be World Champion in the category. Therefore, Rubro Negro must face the European champion in a unique game in Brazil.

Thus, Flamengo can face European champion at Maracanã or another stadium chosen by Mais Querido's board of directors. Four teams remain in contention for this season's European title. One semi-final pits Porto (POR) and Milan (ITA). The other is between Nantes (FRA) and Olympiacos (GRE). The matches take place in April.