A Legacy! Noval maintains his father's history for Flamengo

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 , historically recognized for its strong player training base, has faced a frequent reality in football: the departure of young athletes to rival clubs. The club's youth categories, widely contested and with a constant renewal of talent, mean that not all players are able to pursue a career at Rubro-Negro. This generates significant turnover, with some players transferring to other teams in search of more opportunities.

One of the most recent cases of this movement is that of Levy Benjamin, an athlete who was part of the U13 from Flamengo, but who, around five weeks ago, was announced as a reinforcement for Botafogo. The young player is a promise of Rio football and plays in two positions: attacking midfielder and left-back. The athlete's versatility caught the attention of Alvinegro, who integrated him into their base squad.

This scenario, however, , is not an exception. In total, six players who were in the youth categories of Flamengorecently migrated to Botafogo. The list includes athletes of different age groups and positions. João Gabriel, U-11 right-back, Lorran Egon, U-12 defender, Pietro França, U-12 attacking midfielder, Gustavo, U-13 defender, Levy Benjamin, left-back and U-12 attacking midfielder Sub-13, and Miguel Ramiro, attacker of the Sub-13, are the names that left Flamengo and are now part of Botafogo.

The departure of these young athletes raises a warning for the Flamengo, mainly in relation to competition in the development of Rio football promises. Botafogo, like other clubs in Rio de Janeiro, has invested in attracting talent that, for some reason, does not stick to the red and black base. This phenomenon is common, especially in clubs that have a large number of athletes at the base, which makes it difficult to retain all players who have potential.