Flamengo continental champ calls out Filipe Luís before Recopa | OneFootball

Goal scorer in the 1999 Copa Mercosul final, Reinaldo hopes for greater use of Flamengo’s youth academy

In 1999, Flamengo won the Copa Mercosul with several young players from its academy, such as Lê, Juan, Athirson, and Reinaldo. The latter, in an interview, praised the athletes coming from Ninho do Urubu and hopes for more opportunities for the homegrown talents in Filipe Luís’s team. However, the ‘King’, as he is known, understands that Mengão’s investment power ‘closes doors’ for the youngsters.

— I think that Flamengo today is experiencing a completely different financial moment. Flamengo is a club that can sign any player it wants. So, this makes things a bit harder for the youth academy — said Reinaldo, to ESPN, before continuing.

— Flamengo has a very capable coach, who is trying to bring in young players, because he knows that’s the club’s DNA. Flamengo produces stars at home. This motto will always exist. But everything has its time. He’s definitely watching and will give opportunities to some academy players — added the former striker and now coach, who was recently let go by Maricá, from Rio de Janeiro.

DID REINALDO SCORE IN THE MERCOSUL FINAL?

In the finals against Palmeiras, in the 1999 Mercosul, Reinaldo scored a goal in the 4-3 victory at Maracanã. In that same game, Juan, another homegrown talent from Gávea, also found the net. In the grand final, the historic title-winning goal was scored by Lê, yet another academy player.

IMAGINE IF THIS INSPIRES FLAMENGO IN THE RECOPA?

From the current squad, the academy youngsters with the most minutes in 2026 are Lucas Paquetá and Evertton Araújo. Reinaldo and the Flamengo fans hope the duo will be inspired by ‘99 and bring home another continental title this Thursday (26th), against Lanús (ARG), in the Recopa Sudamericana. The match kicks off at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), at Maracanã.

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