Abel Ferreira jibes at Flamengo’s U20 world title

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·26 August 2025

Abel Ferreira jibes at Flamengo’s U20 world title

Abel Ferreira from Palmeiras insinuated that Flamengo does not give chances to youth players

After Flamengo's under-20 world title last Saturday (23) against Barcelona (ESP), the rubro-negro fans started discussing which of the youngsters deserve a spot on the main team. The topic of utilizing the youth academy reached Palmeiras. The team's coach, Abel Ferreira, mentioned Flamengo's achievement and ironically insinuated that the Rubro-Negro does not give chances to their young talents, unlike the São Paulo team.

— The coach has patience, the fans have patience, I don't know if our fans do. You saw a team that was under-20 world champion (Flamengo), how many players do they bet on? These are different thoughts, our players who went to the national team were all sold. Our best players were sold. Estêvão was sold, Endrick was sold, Vitor Reis last year played the Copa Libertadores home and away, and in the end, we sold him for the amount you know, but it was necessary to keep him there — said Abel Ferreira from Palmeiras.

— It's the club's process, and I always emphasize for our fans to understand, it's a different process. There are players in the youth academy that we could identify, two players that we observed, and I foresee a future like Endrick, like Estêvão, but I know the time it takes for them to evolve, to have the maturity they need, and then in the future, it's up to the selector to decide whether to call them or not — added the Portuguese coach in a press conference on Monday (25).

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WHY DON'T YOU FOCUS ON YOUR OWN TEAM, ABEL FERREIRA?

Abel Ferreira's statement is somewhat surprising. After all, last Monday (25), the Portuguese coach did not start any youth academy player in the team that beat Sport 3-0. Moreover, out of the five substitutions, only one young player trained at the club was brought on: Allan Elias.

On the other hand, Flamengo used a player with a youth academy background among the starting eleven that thrashed Vitória 8-0: Samuel Lino. The winger had a brief history at the club but enough to win the 2018 Copinha with the Rubro-Negro. Additionally, Pedro also has a history with Mengão since childhood.

HOW IS THE 2025 BRASILEIRÃO STANDINGS?

While Abel Ferreira is concerned even with Flamengo's youth academy, the main team of the Most Beloved continues to leave Palmeiras in the dust. After all, Mengão leads the Brasileirão with 46 points, against 42 for the São Paulo team. It is true, however, that the opponent has one game less.

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