Statements by Sergio Conceição, coach of FC Porto, after a 2-2 draw with Mafra in the first round of the League Cup group stage.
Criticism of Ricardo Souza, Mafra’s coach, and arbitration: “This is Portuguese football. I get sent off in Mafra for knocking the ball out of bounds. Today, the opponent’s coach did not honor his last name. He did not honor father and son. He ran into Wendell and nothing happened. The loss of time is constant, from the very beginning of the game. Only give the yellow card to the goalkeeper in the second half. I prefer not to give the yellow card … But that’s not why we lost. We can’t give the opponent 45 minutes. The referee must give 12, 14, 16 minutes. We had the conditions to change the result, but this did not happen.
Game analysis: “I told the players that we can’t give the opponent 45 minutes. We lacked aggression, aggression with the ball. We were not very aggressive. two goals. In the second half, you don’t know, I don’t know if Mafra ever reached our goal. We scored two goals and could have scored more. In the second half we were the same team as always. By applying pressure, they scored two goals. We have drawn, we need to fix two games. Playing at home, we get the support of the public. I take this opportunity to thank the fans who came here at this inhospitable time.”
What did he take away from the game? “I take some positive situations. Others are the same or even more negative. Some players lacked the competitive pace. But that doesn’t excuse them, they have to be ready to play. Be perfect. We must have other characteristics for the game. .
On Ricardo Sousa’s statements in the flash interview: “We can come here ‘bitaitar’ and say a reality that doesn’t exist, trying to convey an image of something that didn’t exist.”
World Cup players and injuries: “We can imagine all possible and imaginary contexts. We have no reason to do what we have done. We depend on ourselves. We didn’t do much today, especially in the first half. .”
