The Portuguese handball coach, Paulo Pereira, said on Tuesday that Brazil, the opponent in the debut in the main phase of the World Cup, on Wednesday, in Gothenburg, “is worth a lot, has interesting players” and “will demand the utmost care from Portugal”. “.
Paulo Pereira, who will make his debut on the Portuguese bench in the fourth game of the World Cup, after serving a three-game suspension, also points out that Brazil, unlike Portugal, did not have to travel or change hotels and will play in the pavilion where the group stage.
“We are going to face this game as if it were the most important and I don’t want to think about what’s to come and the numbers,” added Paulo Pereira, who preferred that the game with Brazil not be so soon, at 15:30 local time (14: 30 in Lisbon), to have more preparation time.
The coach recalled that the team, after the victory over Hungary (27-20), at the close of Group D, in Kristianstad, slept, traveled by bus, settled in the hotel and, without time to make tactical adjustments in training , left was limited to rest and recover physically.
“We are adjusting to the needs and making adaptations according to the characteristics of the opponents,” explained Paulo Pereira, adding that the team already has some experience in dealing with physical and mental exhaustion in this type of event.
Paulo Pereira considers that, “at this moment, the most important rival is Brazil, if Portugal intends to continue maintaining the ambitions and expectations that it created from the beginning”, among which is to improve the 10th place achieved in 2021.
The fact that Portugal faced the Brazilian team in the Gjensidige Cup tournament in Norway, winning 31-28, may be positive, since the Portuguese team already has information about its rival and knowledge of its players.
“We need to rest, but without disconnecting from tomorrow’s game [quarta-feira] and it helps that we already know the Brazilian team because we played with them about a week ago”, considered Paulo Pereira, adding that only afterward will he think about the other rivals.
In addition to Brazil, on Wednesday, Portugal will face in Group II of the main phase, in Gothenburg, the teams from Cape Verde, on Friday, and the host, champion and runner-up of Europe, on Sunday, designated as one of the medal candidates.
“Sweden is stronger, at a very high level, but we are also stronger,” said the coach, considering that Cape Verde also has an interesting team, with players from the Portuguese championship, and a coach, Ljubomir Obradovic, who coaches the Advance.
Asked about the possibility that both the Brazilian and Cape Verdean teams could take points from Hungary and Iceland, Paulo Pereira said that “theoretically it could happen, on a bad day and with mixed emotions”, but that he believes that it is “little likely”. . .
The Portuguese team enters the ‘main round’ with a better coefficient than Iceland and Hungary, despite the fact that the three teams add two points, so the expectations of going to the quarterfinals remain high, within reach of the first two group posts.
The full-back Alexandre Cavalcanti is also focused on entering the ‘main round’ against Brazil on the right foot, to continue pursuing his dream of improving his 10th place two years ago in Egypt.
“By finishing first in the group we fulfilled our first objective and now in the ‘main round’ it is to go to the quarterfinals. We have two games that are theoretically more accessible, but we have to show it on the pitch”, said Alexandre Cavalcanti.
According to the winger, “the games with Brazil and Cape Verde must be won, if the Portuguese team wants to reach the quarterfinals, and only then think about Sweden.”
“We played with Brazil a little over a week ago. They have good resources and several players playing in Europe. We beat them in the tournament in Norway and we have to start on the right foot and win again”, he added.
Alexandre Cavalcanti also said that going first in Group D “motivates the group” and “shows the quality of the team, as a collective, revealing that they can be among the best in the world.”
Source: TSF
