Ceni hails mature teams, takes swipe at Flamengo: "Knocked out"

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·30 August 2025

Ceni hails mature teams, takes swipe at Flamengo: "Knocked out"

Rogério Ceni mentioned Flamengo after Bahia's victory over Fluminense in the Copa do Brasil

The game between Bahia and Fluminense in the Copa do Brasil, but the topic was… Flamengo. After the victory of the Salvador team at Fonte Nova by 1-0 last Thursday (28), the home team's coach, Rogério Ceni, mentioned Mengão in a press conference. When asked if the triumph was “mature”, the former goalkeeper highlighted that only Rubro-Negro and Palmeiras have that status in the country. Lightly, the coach took the opportunity to jab at the duo, citing the eliminations of both in the national knockout.

— Look, I think today was a great game. We had maturity. If we lose, you will say we didn't have it. Maturity in football is measured by the result. A team that wins is mature, a team that doesn't win is immature. It's no use telling you that we haven't lost in 10 games, it doesn't matter —, said Rogério Ceni.

— What matters is the next story. What we buy here are the next two or three days, the next four days. That's what we do in football. There is no mature. There are two very mature teams in the country that are also sometimes eliminated, which is the case of Flamengo and Palmeiras, and all the others are trying to find their place —, added the Bahia coach.

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HOW WAS BAHIA'S VICTORY AGAINST FLUMINENSE?

Besides Rogério Ceni, Bahia's triumph featured contributions from two other former Flamengo players: Everton Ribeiro and Jean Lucas. The latter, in particular, had a decisive influence on the result, providing a beautiful assist for Luciano Juba to score the only goal of the match. Now, the Bahian team can even draw in the return match at Maracanã to advance to the unprecedented semifinal of the Copa do Brasil.

AND FLAMENGO?

Eliminated from the Copa do Brasil, as mentioned by Ceni, Flamengo focuses on the quarterfinals of the Libertadores and maintaining the lead in the Brasileirão, after all. In the national competition, the Most Beloved faces Grêmio this Sunday (31) at Maracanã, for the 22nd round. Thus, the ball rolls from 4 PM (Brasília time).

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