Palmeiras was eliminated from the Brazilian Cup, after losing on penalties to rivals São Paulo (they were winning 2-0 and with qualification in hand), suffered 2-1 and then lost on penalties), but Abel Ferreira drama at the moment. The Portuguese coach and rival Rogério Ceni have been exchanging ‘mouths’ and this game was no different.
“I’m not going to be here explaining much. In my opinion, we were better, we had more chances, we made it 2-0, we had the chance of the third one… Twice Verón isolated, then the missed penalty… We’re not going to look for explanations, make your own conclusions. We had a penalty to eliminate the opponent and in the next move we conceded a goal, curiously from a penalty. In the first 15 minutes, their players didn’t know what to do, how to score. I’m not going to talk about tactics, there’s no tactics, forget about it. The best player doesn’t always win, there’s also the luck factor, our opponent was happy. I still haven’t lost in regulation time, it’s always been on penalties. That’s competence, calm, and then the opponent was better », he said.
Raphael Veiga had an ungrateful night. He scored the 2-0, but then missed two decisive penalties: which would give 3-0 and then open the penalty shootout.
“Our best batsman missed twice. I will explain what? Want me to say what? Are we sad, upset? We are. Did we do a good one? We did. Should we have passed? We should. But football is magical for that very reason, because even a team producing little can pass», he shot, thanking the fans who applauded, despite the elimination. Palmeiras is still the leader and is in the quarter-finals of Libertadores.
With a lack of forwards, Abel will have two available from Monday, when the market opens. Uruguayan Miguel Merentiel and Argentine José Lopez, but the coach says he will need time. «No one works miracles here, this is not Playstation. They arrive in the middle of the season, they need to adapt.”
Rogério Ceni, coach of São Paulo, was confronted with these statements by the Portuguese coach and did not stay.
“It’s the second time I’ve been lucky against him, isn’t it? In Flamengo, we were champions of the Supercup against him [em 2021]. It was luck too », she joked.
The coach also contradicted the opinion expressed by Abel that São Paulo was lost in the first 15 minutes. «It is important to recognize: Palmeiras was also lost. It’s normal. But it’s good to value the work of others, just as we value Palmeiras.”
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