Flamengo fans threw a homemade bomb at the team during practice, on Tuesday morning, injuring defender Dininho and striker Obina.

Dininho had small cuts on his leg, back and behind the ear, while Obina was hit by splinters on his arm.

A group of fans was protesting against Flamengo's latest bad results in the Brazilian League when someone threw the bomb from the other side of the field, injuring the two players.

Goalkeeper Bruno, left winger Juan and midfielder Ibson wanted to fight the fans and had to be contained by their teammates. The athletes wonder why it was easy for the fans to enter the field, as only the club members have permission to watch practices.

"They brought a bomb to the club and could have brought something worse. We have to know who authorized their presence," Juan said.

The bomb incident is the latest of many misfortunes that affected Flamengo this season. After an auspicious season start, with a State Championship title and ten rounds in the Brazilian League's

lead, the team's luck changed. Flamengo has not won a single match since July 17 and is now sixth in the rankings.

Experts say the cause for the club's bad results is the loss of several players. Many strikers and attacking midfielders transferred to European clubs. Others suffered grave injuries, such as Diego Tardelli, who had an open fracture on his right arm on Sunday and had to undergo surgery. He

will take four months to recover and is out of the 2008 season.

Flamengo left Rio on Tuesday afternoon, heading to Goiania, in the midwestern part of the country. On Wednesday, the team will play against local club Goias.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)