The FC Porto coach, Sérgio Conceição, said this Saturday that winning the Portuguese Football Cup does not save the season, but he stressed that the dragons will fight for the trophy as if it were the first.
At a press conference at the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras, where the final between FC Porto and Sporting de Braga will be played on Sunday, the coach was asked directly whether winning the trophy saves the season for the ‘blue and whites’ and he was adamant about answer.
“That does not exist. We can end the season with three titles [conquistados] of the four nationals. And that’s what matters,” shot the dragon trainer.
The final of the Portuguese Cup is “a game in which not only strategy will be important, but also the state of mind”, which “has to do with the personality of the team” and with the “ambition to win another title” which, Conceição assumed, is unquestionable.
“It is not those who have more or less titles who have more or less ambition. Because those who earn more and those who are truly competitive in their way of being, on a day-to-day basis, this desire to win increases even more. That is what I transmit to the team, it is my feeling towards many players, that we have already won some things together. [no domingo] It is as if it were the first title for us”, assumed the coach.
Later, regarding what he expects from the match against the people of Minho, Conceição recalled that “today the distance between Sporting de Braga and FC Porto is much less than a few years ago” and ended up classifying the championship made by the ‘dragons’ as “very good” but “not excellent”.
“What awaits us are difficulties, from a team that had an excellent championship. Just as we had a very good championship, not excellent. Because it would be excellent to win the same ”, he concluded.
Before the coach, Pepe represented the group and the work of FC Porto and, despite being able to win the Portuguese Cup for the fourth time in his career, he also assumed that he feels this opportunity “as if it were the first”.
“Playing a final tomorrow [no domingo]For me, it’s like the first. I feel that nervousness inside, which is good. It makes us alert, but knowing that I am prepared, that I am available to help my club and my teammates”, admitted the blue and white ‘captain’.
FC Porto and Sporting de Braga will play the final of the 83rd edition of the Portuguese Cup on Sunday, starting at 5:15 pm, at the Estádio Nacional, in Oeiras.
Braga, with seven Cup final appearances, have won the trophy three times, with the last two appearances resulting in as many victories, the last of which in 2020/21.
FC Porto, holders of the trophy, will play their 33rd Portuguese Cup final on Sunday, a year after beating Tondela in Jamor (3-1), and will return to the Estádio Nacional to defend a status they achieved 18 times in 32 matches, that is, the winner of the ‘queen’ of national football.
Source: TSF
