Dubai: Golden boot aspirant Reinier Jesus Carvalho is confident of leading his CR Flamengo as the new first-time champions against Spanish giants Real Madrid in Thursday’s final of the eighth Hamdan Bin Mohammad U-16 International Football at the Dubai Police Officers Club ground.
Coming in as the tournament’s highest scorer with six goals to his name from three matches, Carvalho added a fine hat-trick to stay unchallenged at the top with nine goals as Flamengo thrashed former runners-up Borussia Dortmund 8-2 in the first semi-final held on Tuesday.
Later in the evening, Real Madrid — led by playmaker Theo Zidane, the third son of coach and former star Zinedine — nipped PSV Eindhoven to take their rightful place in Thursday’s final that will kick off at 6pm.
“My job is to score goals,” the 16-year-old Carvalho told Gulf News after Flamengo’s 8-2 dominance against 2016 runners-up Borussia Dortmund.
“I get the ball and the only thing I can think of doing is to see it goes into the goal. My teammates have been so helpful as they do all the hard work in feeding me with good passes throughout the match. I have nine goals and I don’t want to stop now. I want to score some more goals and ensure my name stays around this tournament for a long time,” the striker added.
Carvalho opened the scoring in the fifth, added a second in the 22nd as Flamengo threatened to run riot against the Germans.
Lazaro Vinicius Marques and Dhouglas Francisco De Souza Rodrigues added one each to ensure Flamengo trooped off with a commanding 4-0 lead at half-time.
Dortmund pulled one back through substitute Nick Selutin immediately after resumption only to see Carvalho completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute, while Rodrigues added two quick goals in the 55th and 58th to get a trio of his own and take his personal tally to seven goals.
Pedro Machado completed the scoring in the 65th only to see Selutin get his second and bring some respectability in the scoring.
“I love to watch my team play with consistency and high intensity throughout,” Flamengo coach Ramon Lima related.
“Over a period of time we have managed to drill into the team the spirit of winning. We have prepared accordingly for this tournament with the firm belief that anyone who wants to be champions here has to earn it. We are here to earn this title,” he added.
In the second semi-final, Real Madrid found the match-winner during first half injury period through Pablo Suarez Contioso to set up a date with the South Americans.
The third place play-off between PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund will be at 3.45 pm followed by the final between Real Madrid and Flamengo at 6pm.
