David wants victory as a gift
Defender celebrates his birthday on Friday and wants to celebrate by qualifying
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
From his childhood in Guarulhos to scoring a goal in a Brazilian Championship "final," David Braz de Oliveira Filho has been alive for almost 23 years. A young defender who began to shine at Palmeiras in 2007 and established himself as a starter for Flamengo in 2010, the number 14 from Gávea celebrates another birthday next Friday, May 21st, and he already knows exactly what he wants as a gift.
When the referee blows the final whistle for the second leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals between Flamengo and Universidad Católica, Chilean time, it will be 0:15 a.m. on Friday. In other words, David will already be ready to celebrate his birthday. And he hopes to do so, with qualification for the semifinals of the competition.
"It would be the perfect gift, wouldn't it? It'll be great to be able to celebrate my birthday with this qualification. I have faith in God that we'll make it. It's difficult, but we have the ability to turn this around," said the player, who points to focusing on victory as one of the key elements to focus on in order to advance in the Libertadores.
"We have to be fully focused. We're going to fight hard, and I think we're on the right track. In the Rio game, the team created a lot of chances but ended up not scoring. If we keep creating chances but keep putting the ball in, it will be easier," he said.
Another ingredient David considers crucial to securing a spot is scoring early in the game. According to him, getting ahead on the scoreboard can make things easier for Rubro-Negro.
"We have to go for the result and we need to impose ourselves from the start. Definitely scoring an early goal and taking the lead is crucial for us to have more peace of mind for the rest of the game," he concluded.
When the referee blows the final whistle for the second leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals between Flamengo and Universidad Católica, Chilean time, it will be 0:15 a.m. on Friday. In other words, David will already be ready to celebrate his birthday. And he hopes to do so, with qualification for the semifinals of the competition.
"It would be the perfect gift, wouldn't it? It'll be great to be able to celebrate my birthday with this qualification. I have faith in God that we'll make it. It's difficult, but we have the ability to turn this around," said the player, who points to focusing on victory as one of the key elements to focus on in order to advance in the Libertadores.
"We have to be fully focused. We're going to fight hard, and I think we're on the right track. In the Rio game, the team created a lot of chances but ended up not scoring. If we keep creating chances but keep putting the ball in, it will be easier," he said.
Another ingredient David considers crucial to securing a spot is scoring early in the game. According to him, getting ahead on the scoreboard can make things easier for Rubro-Negro.
"We have to go for the result and we need to impose ourselves from the start. Definitely scoring an early goal and taking the lead is crucial for us to have more peace of mind for the rest of the game," he concluded.