The Arouca coach assured this Monday that his team will enter the field “without fear of losing”, since only then will they be closer to beating Sporting in the semifinals of the Football League Cup, on Tuesday.
“Regarding our way of playing and approaching the matches, there is one thing that worries me: the players do not have to be afraid of losing. When we enter the field without fear of losing, we are probably closer to winning.” trying to instill in the players”, affirmed Armando Evangelista.
The Arouca coach added that he has a defined strategy to face Sporting in Leiria on Tuesday and that the team will do everything possible to “keep going” and “continue surprising”.
“Being in this ‘final four’ is not living a dream. We are living reality, because we are here. [Final] It is a difficult reality to achieve, obviously, we have many obstacles in the way, but we have been able to remove them and continue with some success. It is legitimate to believe that we can continue in it [final four]”, stressed the coach.
Armando Evangelista played 100 games at the helm of Arouca, a mark that he considered “rewarding”.
“But it’s not 100 games that take away my ambition to want to do much more. Hence, I hope that tomorrow (Tuesday) we can be successful, within the odds we have. We know that there is a higher probability on the other side, but, within the percentage that we have, we will hold on to reach the final,” he said.
After admitting that the team paid special attention to the marking of penalties -the tie-breaker-, Armando Evangelista assured that Arouca “will play what Sporting also allows”.
“There are differences between the two clubs and our intention is to look at the game as we look at any rival, knowing that on the other side there is a strategy, individual and collective values,” he said.
However, Arouca “will seek to create difficulties, to take the game wherever he wants.” “That’s the only way we can aspire to something more,” he said.
The team’s captain, João Basso, added that being in the League Cup semifinal “means recognition and work.”
“It was not easy to get here. We had a game in which we won with nine and a comeback in a very complicated field. It is a very special pleasure to be able to participate at this time, not only for the players, but also for the coaching staff, the club, but also for a whole town that supports us. It is a very special moment, ”he confessed.
The player admitted the favoritism of Sporting, but stressed that the team “will cling to the odds” that exist to reach the final, the group’s main objective.
“Each party has its story. It is useless to look at what we did against Sporting in the championship or on Friday. Our focus has to be on playing a good game ”, he reinforced, revealing that Arouca was studying the rival well, as always. he does.
João Basso said that the nervousness of this match “implies a lot of things”.
“First, the semifinal itself. Being in a ‘final four’ is something historic for the club and implies the responsibility we have to be better every day and achieve our goals of a high degree of difficulty”, he concluded.
Arouca faces Sporting this Tuesday, at 7:45 p.m., at the Estádio Municipal Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, in Leiria, in a match that counts for the semifinals of the League Cup.
Source: TSF
