Coach Rúben Amorim said on Saturday that “it is an obligation” for Sporting to finish the First Football League with a winning streak, go through against Famalicão, in the 30th round, and start the next season better.
“We haven’t had many chances to get that feeling [de sequência de vitórias], so ending this feeling is our duty. Keeping a clean sheet again is also a goal, against the team that has improved the most since the World Cup, with talented players and high morale. It’s between cup games, but he still has goals in this competition, just like us. We really want to put on a winning streak,” he said.
Seven points away from third place, occupied by Sporting de Braga, which gives access to the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, which is the minimum target declared by the ‘Leonine’ team, Rúben Amorim noted that it was difficult to podium, but said he wanted to take advantage of the last days to improve and test the team, thinking about next season.
“We are about to fall short of the minimum objectives, everyone knows that, but we also know that in five days everything will start again. We have a team with potential, which has several shortcomings, but nothing better than exploiting every game to close these gaps. The season is not over yet, but above all they have to think about the future. In five games we have to be in a much better position to start the next season well.” , the 38-year-old coach considered.
Even far from the goals, Rúben Amorim feels he has the confidence of Sporting’s management and supporters, which is “strange” but justified by the fact that he never fueled the departure, even with polls from other clubs, in previous seasons.
“I was a coach who, when he won and was at the top, never encouraged his departure. Now it seems I’m on the other side of the coin and I’m being reciprocated. Maybe the coach spent all the credits this year .” season and I know it won’t last forever. Now I get the same treatment from the supporters. They know that I give everything for Sporting and that I defend them with everything. It is not normal for Sporting, which is always in a ‘living wheel’, to have this stability. It’s a sign of maturity and makes life easier for me.”
On Sunday, Rúben Amorim will play his 155th game as Sporting coach, more than the 154 games he played for rival Benfica. When asked about the club where he felt most capable, the coach chose the ‘lions’.
“These are different moments in my career. I have a different kind of success here than at Benfica. Playing for Benfica was a childhood dream, everyone knows that. It’s like having two loves, the first more irrational and primitive, and the second more one. I never thought I would be here, but professionally it was by far the best thing that happened to me. When I talk about professional fulfillment, Sporting is clearly something, because it was something unexpected and it changed my life.” the former Portugal international opined.
Sporting, ranked fourth, with 61 points, will receive Famalicão, sixth, with 42, on Sunday in a match for the 30th round of the First Football League, at Estádio José Alvalade, in Lisbon, from 8:30 p.m., with referee Manuel Oliveira, from the port association.
Source: DN
