Cebolinha admits nerves ahead of Flamengo’s Intercontinental debut | OneFootball

Flamengo is seeking its fourth title of the season and begins its journey in the Intercontinental Cup against Cruz Azul from Mexico, in the Dérbi das Américas, this Wednesday at 2:00 PM. Forward Everton Cebolinha, who played in the Club World Cups in 2022 and 2025 for the Rubro-Negro, and in 2017 for Grêmio, revealed that he is feeling “anxiety” ahead of the Rio team’s debut in the tournament.

Read also: Flamengo finishes preparations for Intercontinental debut; see the probable lineup. Filipe Luís sees Flamengo and Cruz Azul as “similar”, and does not talk about renewal: “The priority is the game”. Flamengo's rival in the Intercontinental, Cruz Azul, gets to know the Dérbi das Américas stadium.

“There’s the anxiety (of the debut). It’s my third World Cup with Flamengo’s jersey, and that already gives me some experience. (Cruz Azul) is a very qualified team, they like to work the ball, but coach Filipe has already pointed out the strengths and weaknesses that we can take advantage of. We are well prepared,” revealed the forward in an interview with FlamengoTV.

In addition to the anxiety, Everton Cebolinha also revealed the difficulty in adapting to the time zone in Doha, Qatar. After traveling for 18 hours, the Flamengo delegation still had to get used to a six-hour time difference ahead of Brasília time.

“Sleeping has been a bit difficult, but we are following Flamengo’s recommendations. I only went to sleep at 7 a.m. But the club let us rest a little longer. We are more adapted today and I believe that tomorrow we’ll be much better,” concluded the forward.

Cebolinha in the World Cup

Despite having played in the world tournament on three occasions, Everton Cebolinha has never won the title. In 2017, he was a starter in Grêmio’s runner-up campaign, which lost 1-0 to Real Madrid. Playing for Flamengo, the forward came on at the end of the semifinal, but saw the Rubro-Negro lose to Al-Hilal 3-2, and also came on to help secure third place after contributing to the 4-2 win over Al-Ahly.

This season, Cebolinha played in two matches of the Club World Cup, against LAFC and Espérance de Tunis in the first round. The forward did not stand out and did not get more chances with Filipe Luís in the competition. Adding up all the World Cups, the former Grêmio player has played six times and scored one goal, against Pachuca in the 2017 semifinal.

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