The coach of Nacional, from the II Soccer League, said Tuesday that the Madeirans “have nothing to lose” in the semifinals of the Portuguese Cup and that “the responsibilities are all” on the side of Sporting de Braga.
“We are, of course, aware of the difficulties. The responsibilities will all be on the opponent’s side and at that level we have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain and that is how we are going to enter the game.” , highlighted Filipe Cândido, in the conference prior to the first leg of the semifinals of the ‘Reina’ competition, which will be played on Wednesday at Estádio da Madeira.
According to the 42-year-old coach, the islanders will seek to promote “their own ambition”, to want to place the ‘alvinegro’ shield for the first time in the final of the competition, and this is the fourth time they will play in the semifinals.
“There is a great merit of our team because we continue to compete in this competition and no one can take that away from us”, highlighted the ‘helmsman’ of the formation that eliminated the Azorean Angrense and Rabo de Peixe (Portuguese Championship), Oliveirense and Tondela (II League) and, finally, Casa Pia (I League).
Recognizing one more responsibility for the II League, in which the islanders are fighting to stay in the second division, occupying 15th place, the coach guarantees that the latest results (three consecutive defeats) “cannot take away the focus and the merit of representing to the island of Madeira at this stage of the career, with great optimism and ambition, but also aware of all the difficulties”.
Filipe Cândido admitted that two-legged knockouts “always give more margin to those who have other types of resources.”
“In Cup matches, experience shows that many times, when it comes to a single match, it is possible for the theoretically weaker team to beat the other. After two games there will always be much more room for those who have other types of resources, as is the case, to get through the tie”, highlighted the Lisbon coach.
For the ‘arsenalistas’, ranked third in the I Liga, two points behind FC Porto, second, Filipe Cândido recognized that “in attack they only lose to Benfica and in defense it is the third best defense”, underlining “the very strong” of the rival, who eliminated the ‘incarnated’ in the previous round.
To counter this, Nacional “will try to be as competitive as possible, try to be patient, because sometimes they may not have all the ball they want,” according to the Madeiran team’s coach, who also recalled the importance of the island formation “being able to to close spaces”, aware of what Sporting de Braga has been doing.
As host, Nacional will face Sporting de Braga, on Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semifinals, with the second leg scheduled for April 25, at the Estádio Municipality of Braga.
The other semifinal of the Portuguese Cup will pit the holders of the trophy, FC Porto, against Famalicão, with the first leg on April 26, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, and the second on May 4, at Dragon’s Stadium.
Source: TSF
