Carpegiani projects Fla-Flu and states: "We have the ambition to win the title"

Coach gives press conference after rout against Portuguesa

By Matheus Oliveira - in 18/03/2018 às 20:24

With a great performance on Sunday afternoon (18) at the Kleber Andrade stadium, in Cariacica-ES, coach Paulo César Carpegiani's team thrashed Portuguesa 4-0 to seal qualification for the semi-final of the Rio Cup. Everton Ribeiro opened the scoring, with Henrique Dourado and Geuvânio twice giving the final score to the match.

Fan club members have the pride of playing alongside each victory: the money goes to football and brings more reinforcements, new talent, and infrastructure to the training center. And they also have advantages in official stores to buy the jersey and wear it with pride! Click and join now.

After the match, the red-black coach, who completed 150 matches in charge of Mais Querido in the last duel, against Macaé, appeared in the press room of the match venue to give a press conference. This Thursday (22), it will be the turn of Rubro-Negro to measure forces with Fluminense in search of a place in the grand final, a challenge designed by the coach.

"It's a completely different team, and I don't want to think about that right now. I'll do that starting tomorrow. It's a classic with a very good rivalry, one of the most intense in Brazilian football. Whether we're ahead or behind, it will be 90 minutes that will decide. We have the ambition to win the title in this second round, and we won't achieve it unless we're better than our opponent," he analyzed.

After a crucial away win against Emelec in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, the squad once again demonstrated great character in a match that would decide qualification. The team's performance was praised by Carpegiani, who has set lofty goals for the team.

"We were quite calm on the field. I liked it because we weren't in a rush. Our ultimate goal was to qualify. We still aspire to play in the final of this championship. It will be a single match; we won't have the advantage. It will be a different situation. We hope to advance to the next stage. May we be happy and able to move on," he commented.

Against Portuguesa, besides the result, the maturity demonstrated by the players on the field was pleasing to Carpegiani. The team from Ilha do Governador put up a strong fight against the more prominent clubs in both rounds of the Campeonato Carioca, creating several challenges, which made the rout even more significant.

"We expected a very difficult game. Portuguesa hadn't lost to the big teams. They had a score in the first half that should have been enough to decide the match against us, but they conceded a goal in the last minute and we ended up having to decide against Boavista. In this phase, they also had very good scores, even higher than ours. They're a good team, but we managed to overcome them," he concluded.

This Thursday's Fla-Flu (22) will be played at the Nilton Santos stadium with Fluminense playing at home, and the ball will start rolling from 20pm.