By Georgia Grimond, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The football team of Rio’s Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, usually referred to as just Flamengo, beat the Associação Atlética Portuguesa, or Portuguesa, in a fast-paced 5-0 match at the Raulino de Oliveira stadium in Volta Redonda on Wednesday night (February 10th). The two teams were playing in the third round of the local Rio de Janeiro state championship, the Campeonato Carioca.
Guerrero, Emerson Sheik and Rodinei all put the ball in the back of the net once for Flamengo but it was Willian Arão who was considered the star of the match and who scored twice.
“I am very happy about the two goals. But more than that, I’m happy because the team played well, this is important,” said the footballer who has only worn the famous red-black shirt of Flamengo since the beginning of the year.
The Campeonato Carioca is the third oldest inter-state competition, having started in 1906. It tends to be dominated by Rio’s four big teams: Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. Since 2000 Flamengo has won the championship eight times, putting them at the top of the board.
Teams in the tournament are split into two groups and there are three stages of the competition: the Taça Guanabara, Taça Rio and the finals. Two of the “big four” are in each group and are seeded. The teams then play each other within the group, and the winners play against the second team from the other group.
For the Taça Rio phase, the same teams remain. This time, however, each team plays against all the teams in the other group. Again, the top team takes on the second best team in the opposite group in the semi-finals. The winner of the Taça Guanabara and the Taça Rio phases then compete in the final for the title.
Flamengo, who are currently second in Group B with seven points, will be back on the pitch on Sunday when they play against Vasco in São Januário. In sixth place in Group A, Portuguesa take on Volta Redonda a day later again at the Raulino de Oliveira stadium.