An unprecedented duel will resume the 15th round of the League; amateurs have faced problems with injuries and arouquenses a change of coach, both with good response
Two teams that have been faced with adversity, but that have come out smiling in the face of it, will face each other this Thursday in the meeting that will mark the resumption of the League after the break for the Christmas celebration – after Consoada, Estrela da Amadora and Arouca hope to return to action with a triumph to continue their good sporting moments.
Estrela is in a calm situation in the League – it hasn’t lost in three matches and in the last game played it achieved a draw against the Algarve in a context that was clearly unfavorable to it, given the number of absences that limited it, especially in defense. Against Farense, the Tricolores only had a central defender, Erivaldo Almeida, who was joined by two improvised players, namely full-backs Hevertton and Shinga, and in the end they secured a goalless draw.
Arouca has not yet lost under the command of its new coach, Daniel Sousa, which is equivalent to saying that the Serra de Freita team played the last four matches without knowing the taste of defeat. A sequence that began in the Portuguese Cup, through equality and a penalty shoot-out against Boavista, and which continued with a triumph, again over the chess team, a draw with Rio Ave and the most recent victory, over Gil Vicente .
Whatever happens in the duel that will take place in Reboleira, history will be made. After all, there is no history of clashes between the two teams, easily justified by the fact that the past of Estrela and Arouca is the opposite: when the Amateurs were previously active in the first division, the Arouquenses were yet to begin their fabulous journey of ascension. When Arouca arrived in the League, Estrela had already declared insolvency and then restarted its journey from the district level and, later, in the well-known reactivation of its SAD, resulting from a merger with Sintra Football approved by the General Assembly.
The winner of the duel will thus be able to write the first page of a clash that will continue in the second round, at that time in the North, and which Estrela and Arouca will intend to repeat on many more occasions. First of all, because this would mean that both teams would ensure their maintenance in the League, as is the desire of both institutions.
Star of Amadora
System: 3x4x3
Probable eleven: Wagner Dida, Hevertton Santos, Kialonda Gaspar and Erivaldo Almeida; Jean Philip, Leo Lamb, Vito and John King; Leo Jaba, Ronald and Ronaldo Tavares.
Injured: Bruno Brígido, António Filipe, Johnstone Omurwa, Pedro Mendes, Mansur, Miguel Lopes and Aloísio Souza.
In doubt: Pedro Sá.
Figure: Ronald. In a Star who, due to injuries, has been systematically forced to change his starting eleven and often in all his sectors, on the offensive wings this Brazilian has sold his health, having been present in each of the 14 matches played by the tricolors (he was 104 minutes away from joining the group of totalists). In partnership with Léo Jabá, he causes panic in the transition due to his speed and thus hopes to hurt the opponent’s defense, guaranteeing yet another success for the historic Reboleira club.
Ronald, from Estrela da Amadora, and Zolotic, from Casa Pia, compete for the ball in the area under the attention of goalkeeper Ricardo Batista. Photo: Maciej Rogowski/Imago.
What Sérgio Vieira said in the match preview: «The spirit of family and unity is what allows those who are there to be players who will give everything and play as a true team and family, so that the fans feel happy in our last game of the year at home».
Arouca
System: 4x3x3.
Eleven likely: Ignacio de Arruabarrena, James Esgaio, Javi Montero, Nino Galovic and Weverson Costa; Eboué Kouassi, Morlaye Sylla and David Simon; Cristo Gonzalez, Jason Remeseiro and Rafa Mujica.
Injured: Rafael Fernandes, Mateus Quaresma and Oriol Busquets.
Figure: Ignacio from Arruabarrena. He started the season referred to as a possibility for top clubs – Benfica was the most mentioned possibility – and the Uruguayan continues to show his value despite the difficult season that Arouca is going through, involved in the fight for maintenance. He is a totalist in the League and no one questions this status: he has kept his goal untouched for more than a game and a half, comprising the entire reception against Gil Vicente (3-0 victory) and the last 62 minutes of the draw at home against Rio Ave: Emmanuel Boateng was the last to achieve the feat of undoing it. Will Estrela have a worthy opponent?
Arruabarrena with the ball in his possession in a game against Arouca in the Football Conference League. Photo: IMAGO
What Daniel Sousa said in the preview of the match: «The players are the same. We changed a little because there is always some change, anything that changes, regardless of whether it is being done well or badly, that is not what is at stake. What was being done was good».
2023-12-28 08:00:00
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