Coach Petit assured this Sunday that Boavista are ready for the momentum shown by Benfica in the second half of the Supercopa Candido de Oliveira ahead of the hosting of Football League One’s first round incarnations.
“I’m more ready for Benfica in the second half with the arrival of [Petar] Muse as a front link. We are ready for this Benfica, which has one or two nuances. [diferente] from last season to this one. João Neves and Orkun Kokçu have a double attack in midfield, Angel Di Maria plays a lot from the flank [direito] inside there are doubts whether to play Fredrik Orsnes or Joao Mario [na esquerda] and still ahead of Rafa and Musa. We have been working hard on these ideas of the opposing team, but looking at what we can do,” said the coach at a press conference.
The national champions won the Super Cup for the ninth time, beating FC Porto (2-0) in Aveiro on Wednesday, winners of the Portuguese Cup, thanks to goals scored by the Argentinean Di Maria and the Croatian who replaced Mousa in the extra stage.
Benfica are in high spirits, but we will work to achieve a good result in front of our fans. It will be an extremely difficult match against a competent team, with a good process and great players, but without deviating too far from our foundation last season, we should be ready to enter the race well,” he said.
Boavista officially compete again three weeks after being “fallen” in the first leg of the League Cup, losing to newly relegated União de Leiria in a shoot-out (4–5) after 0–0. draw at the end of 90 minutes.
With the Chessmen unable to sign new players by FIFA, Petit admits it’s “normal that this news could shake things up a bit” for the team, which currently consists of 31 players, 15 of whom were launched from the team’s youth sections. club.
“We can only control what we can do and that is our job. The players were exceptional during those five or six weeks that we were together because they showed themselves every day. They know reality. [financeira], but we try to improve them every day to be stronger. It is in our power to continue the training process in order to start well and give a good result in the first round, ”he repeated.
The coach assured that Nigerian defenders Bruno Onyemaechi, who missed the call from Uniao de Leiria for regulatory reasons, and Chidosi, whose possible departure to Nantes was announced in France, are “ready” for the start of do Boavista’s 61st presence in the First League and 10th in a row since administrative reintegration in the 2014/15 season.
“It is clear that the coach likes to have a competitive squad with quality players. We have a base from last season, but we have already lost Yusuf, Ricardo Mangas, Kenji Gorre, Reggie Cannon and Rafael Bracali. Vincent Sasso is out of shape or started to work. There were six important players, but we worked with those who are here to be strong and strict. We have a tough time ahead of us in this duel, but when we have the ball, we have to have quality and know what to do,” he concluded.
Boavista will play national champions Benfica on Monday, from 20:45, at the Bessa Stadium in Porto, in the final match of the first day of the 2023/24 I League Championship, under the refereeing of António Nobre of the Leiria association.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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