Running for 90 minutes, down a man since the 30th minute of the first half and on a waterlogged field, is no easy task for any athlete. But all of the red-and-black team's players passed this arduous task with flying colors in last Wednesday's match against Corinthians at the Maracanã. And for that, they were highly praised by fitness coach Alexandre Sanz.

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Sanz recalled that this was the eighth time the Gávea team was without a player this season and recalled that in all of them the team was not lacking in any way in terms of physical fitness.

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"This is the eighth game in which we've had a player sent off, if I'm not mistaken, and that has left me satisfied from a physical standpoint. Of course, it's bad to be one player down, but the players, besides being prepared, are showing a lot of grit and a strong desire to play and win games. This is very important, because that spirit is within them," he said.

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On Sunday, the red-and-black team will train, unlike what happened throughout the first half of the year. Alexandre believes there will be no change to the schedule for Wednesday's game.

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"The week has been reversed. We play in the middle of the week, on Wednesday, so it's like we're doing the same schedule as on Sunday. We do everything as if it were the weekend. It's a normal week, but with the days reversed. It's different because normally you have a break when you don't play on Sunday, but it's an important game and everyone understood that well and I'm sure they'll do well," he explained.

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The fitness coach also praised the good preparation demonstrated by the team in the first leg of the round of 16 and hopes that this will be repeated in next Wednesday's match.

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"The goal is to train for Wednesday's game, with everyone focused on victory. It showed once again that the team is well prepared physically. A heavy, wet field, with one player less, running and scoring goals, was very important for us," he added.