Atletico-MG side defines Flamengo as the hardest team that has ever faced

On Monday afternoon (30), Flamengo's football director José Boto published a text on his Instagram account taking stock of the red-black team's campaign in the Club World Cup . The Mais Querido fell after losing to Bayern Munich, 4-2.

Boto about the red-blacks: "Thanks to our fans, who never stopped supporting the team"

WITH THE WORD....

"A journey with which we should be satisfied and proud has come to an end. We return home with the knowledge that we are a strong team, of great value and capable of competing at the highest level of world football," wrote the director.

THANKS

"Thank you to our fans, who never stopped supporting the team at every moment of the competition and in every city in the United States, Brazil and the world, because Flamengo is a Nation. Now, we need to recover well and prepare for the next challenges, because we want to achieve important goals this season. Strength, Flamengo !" he concluded.

Now, Flamengo will focus its efforts on the rest of the season and José Boto will have a window to further strengthen the red-black squad. Colombian Jorge Carrascal is close to being hired. The Delegation will leave for Rio de Janeiro this Monday (30), at 10 pm (Brasília time), with arrival scheduled for 6:30 am. Disembarkation will take place in the international hall of RIOGaleão Airport. The team will return to training on Saturday morning, at 9:30 am, at CT George Helal.

On Monday afternoon, Flamengo issued an official statement, repudiating and denying an article published after the elimination to Bayern Munich in the Club World Cup , which said that the red-black board would not have liked Arrascaeta's entry as a starter, that is, criticizing the line-up of coach Filipe Luís.

FOLLOW THE NOTE IN FULL

" The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo repudiates the content published by journalist Diogo Dantas in his column in the newspaper O Globo, this Monday (30), entitled Behind the scenes: Flamengo's board feared that Filipe Luís would field Arrascaeta and disapproved of the strategy against Bayern. The text in question does not find any support in the reality of Flamengo's football environment and lacks veracity in its premises and conclusions.

Unfortunately, this is yet another example of a practice that is already recurrent, which insists on transforming speculation and personal impressions into “news”, with the sole objective of generating engagement, clicks and audience, even if this compromises the credibility of the information and respect for the professionals involved.

Since the beginning of 2025, Flamengo has adopted an attitude of absolute professionalism in football, without any interference from managers in its routine and environment. The team's delegation at the FIFA Club World Cup is an example of this, since all 78 members are Flamengo employees, which reinforces the discrepancy between what was published and the truth.

The club reaffirms its full confidence in De Arrascaeta, one of the team's leaders, who is enjoying one of his best seasons at Flamengo, and also in the decisions and leadership of coach Filipe Luís, who has full autonomy to make decisions. The season's numbers leave no doubt: first place in the Brazilian Championship with the number 10 leading the competition's scoring charts, titles in the Carioca and the Brazilian Super Cup, in addition to qualifying for the round of 16 of the CONMEBOL Libertadores and the Brazilian Cup.

We will remain firm in our commitment to the truth, to respecting our athletes and to valuing the serious work that has been done by all the professionals at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo."

RUBRO-NEGRO LEAVES FOR RIO THIS MONDAY

The delegation will depart for Rio de Janeiro this Monday (30), at 10 pm (Brasília time), with arrival scheduled for 6:30 am. Disembarkation will take place at the international hall of RIOGaleão Airport. The team will return to training on Saturday morning, at 9:30 am, at CT George Helal.

After having his development praised by José Boto , Juninho had his future revealed by the Flamengo director. In an interview with GE, the Mais Querido's football director spoke about the striker's situation and asked the fans to be patient with the athlete.

José Boto talks about signing Juninho: "It was a signing that had an objective and fulfilled that objective that we envisioned."

He continued: "When we sign a player, we sign him for a specific role on the field, but also for a specific circumstance. It is obvious that these circumstances change, and we knew that, from the moment Pedro returned. This does not mean that it was a failed signing", highlighted the Flamengo director before adding:

"It's obvious that we expected him to adapt better, but that's something very difficult to predict. We think he has more to give. Now, when you have players of a higher level than you, it's difficult to have these opportunities to develop further. It depends a lot on the player, on his resilience. But the objective of the signing was achieved. We never went to get Juninho thinking that he would be our center forward and score 50 goals. He was to fill a gap that existed, and the player had the characteristics that we wanted and he wasn't expensive, " concluded Boto, in an interview with 'GE'.

THIRD OPTION AT FLAMENGO

Despite José Boto's words, Juninho has become Flamengo's third option. This is because, in recent games, Filipe Luís has opted to field Bruno Henrique as an improvised number 9. In the meantime, the striker is available on the bench.

SEASON SEQUENCE

After being eliminated from the Club World Cup, Flamengo will only return to the field on the week of July 13, when they will face São Paulo in the Brasileirão. In the meantime, the red-and-black squad will enjoy a few days of vacation before returning to activities.