Abel Ferreira mocks Flamengo’s U20 world title

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·26 Agustus 2025

Abel Ferreira mocks Flamengo’s U20 world title

Abel Ferreira from Palmeiras insinuated that Flamengo doesn't give chances to youth players

After Flamengo's under-20 world title last Saturday (23) against Barcelona (ESP), the red-black fans started discussing which of the young players deserve a spot on the main team. The topic of using youth players even reached Palmeiras. The team's coach, Abel Ferreira, mentioned Flamengo's bi-championship and ironically insinuated that the Red-Black doesn't give chances to their youth players, 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 matches, Libertadores matches, 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 system that we could identify, two players that we observed that I see and foresee a future like Endrick, like Estêvão, but I know the time needed for them to evolve, to have the maturity they need, 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 TEAM, ABEL FERREIRA?

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

On the other hand, Flamengo used a player with a youth 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 Red-Black. 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 system, 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 from 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.