Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras are getting closer to winning their second title, after winning (1-0) or Fluminense. The triumph maintains the 3-point difference for Atlético Mineiro and Flamengo, who beat São Paulo (2-1) and Cuiabá (2-1), respectively. Only a catastrophe will stop Verdão from celebrating, so to speak. If Palmeiras wins or draws against Cruzeiro, they are champions regardless of the other results. If they lose and Flamengo and At. Mineiro win, everything will be decided by goal difference. Now, Palmeiras’ advantage is abysmal in this chapter: Palmeiras (31), At. Mineiro (23) and Flamengo (15). On the verge of yet another achievement – he is preparing to celebrate his 9th trophy -, Abel Ferreira was asked at the end of the meeting about staying at the Brazilian club, but the Portuguese coach didn’t even dare to dwell on the subject and maintained the focus on the title game. “I’m not going to comment on speculation, you know what Brazilian football is like. I’ve talked about it throughout the year. There are a lot of speculations, it’s normal. What matters is the most important game of the year, we want to stamp this title, because right now we can’t We are champions and we really want to be,” said the 44-year-old coach, adding: “I haven’t defined anything, you know. You know what’s going on with me, that I have a contract. That’s speculation.” The truth is that the insistence of the journalists present in the room forced Abel Ferreira to return to the topic. “In the first or second Libertadores I said I was going to stop and reflect, as I do every year. I’ve said other times that I was ‘fed up’ and that’s no lie. It’s difficult to play games and travel every three days, to have Brazilian football entities that insinuate that you are this or that… do you think this is easy? It’s three years, not three days. Every year, I reach the end and have a report ready of what I asked for the previous year, which happened and what I think will be the future of the club. This report is ready to be delivered. It is very exhausting being a coach in Brazilian football, but I am not ungrateful”, he stated.
Palmeiras reaches this privileged position after being 13 points behind Botafogo. When very few believed in this recovery, Abel Ferreira reveals the conversation he had with the group. “I told them that if they let go, I would be the first to let go. If I felt like they let go [o campeonato], I would drop it. That was the first. And the second was what I told you: we have an opportunity to leave here, me as the best coach and you as the best players. It’s these moments that can make us grow and return even better, and I think they understood what I meant”, he said.
2023-12-04 02:40:22
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