Flamengo, the winningest team in the Superliga with 12 titles, enter Friday’s encounter ranked fifth in the standings with three points (one win) after having their second-leg match against rivals Fluminense postponed – they defeated Paulistano Barueri in their debut.
Coached by the legendary Bernardo ‘Bernardinho’ Rezende, they have as many as four players who represented Brazil at the 2025 FIVB World Championship two months ago in opposite Tainara Santos, outside hitter Helena Wenk, middle blocker Lorena Viezel and libero Laís Vasques. For 2025-2026, the team signed middle blocker Maša Kirov, who was part of the Serbian roster at the World Championship, and outside hitter Simone Lee, a 2019 Volleyball Nations League champion with the American national team.
The encounter will mark the first match of the season played by Flamengo at the Maracanãzinho stadium, one of the most iconic volleyball venues in the world, which hosted the Rio 2016 Olympics and numerous international tournaments.
"Playing at the Maracanãzinho is different and we're all excited," Tainara said. "I've played there with the national team and am looking forward to doing it with Flamengo. It's a bigger stadium, so we need to adjust to it, but we'll prepare in the best possible way to face a very strong opponent, which has plenty of options in their squad."
