Vasco hold Flamengo, Renato Gaúcho praises side: “Not for everyone”

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Papo na Colina

·4 May 2026

Vasco hold Flamengo, Renato Gaúcho praises side: “Not for everyone”

Vasco pulled off a heroic draw against Flamengo at the Maracanã. The team was trailing by two goals, but found an equalizer in the closing moments of the match valid for the 14th round of the Brazilian Championship.

The goals were scored by center-back Robert Renan and defensive midfielder Hugo Moura. The result, celebrated by the coaching staff, came after intense attacking pressure in the final stretch of the second half.

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Coach praises attitude on the pitch

Coach Renato Gaúcho praised the players’ commitment after the final whistle. The manager acknowledged the rival squad’s financial superiority, but highlighted Vasco’s attitude in coming back from behind:

“It’s always important to pick up points. I tell them to have confidence and personality, regardless of the opponent. Out there, it’s all about commitment, that’s what I want to see. Once again today, it was a tremendous effort. Not just any team faces Flamengo at the Maracanã, goes two goals down, and manages to equalize. Flamengo are always in the title race because of that, their quality is enormous and on another level. They practically have two teams. I told our players: let’s at least compete. Their quality is undoubtedly better than ours, but desire on the pitch counts for a lot. I saw my team’s commitment and the fans’ recognition.”

In a press conference, he said the group went toe-to-toe with the opponent throughout the full ninety minutes:

“The team knows how to respond, it has that commitment. It’s difficult to face Flamengo, and even so we were doing well the whole time. We knew how to react even with the score at 2–0. It’s not easy. The team didn’t give up, showed attitude, and went after the equalizer. Just as we had conceded late equalizers in some matches against some opponents, today I can say we didn’t earn one point, we earned three points because of everything that happened. It’s not that Flamengo were better than us, the numbers prove otherwise. Vasco went toe-to-toe with Flamengo.”

Focus on the Copa Sudamericana and absences for Vasco

The football department is now focused on the team’s next match of the season. The squad will travel to Chile to face Audax Italiano this Wednesday (06), in the group stage of the continental tournament.

For the next Brasileirão clash against Athletico, Vasco will have key absences in the lineup. Full-back Paulo Henrique and defensive midfielder Cauan Barros received their third yellow cards and will serve automatic suspensions on Sunday (10).

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.