THE coach of Académico de Viseu said today that he wants to resist Sporting’s presumed initial attack and hopes to score points in the ninth round of the Portuguese Football League, on Sunday.
“What I believe will happen is a strong entry from Sporting, very strong indeed. A team that will try to prevent Académico from getting the ball and I believe we will have some difficulty in the initial phase of the game”, admitted Bruno Pinheiro.
The coach believes that, if the team manages to resist the first 20 minutes, which they expect “very strong” from the opponent, they will then be able to start playing their game and balance the match.
The coach was speaking at the press conference previewing the game on matchday nine, with Sporting, which will take place at the José Alvalade Stadium, on Sunday, at 8:30 pm.
“Sporting’s quality is there, at all levels. Very technically talented players, very fast, strong in physical contact, the vast majority of them, therefore, it is an opponent that in individual terms is very strong”, he highlighted.
Bruno Pinheiro also highlighted that Sporting, “offensively, is an extremely difficult team to stop” and “has a very large capacity for imbalance”, therefore, “it is a collective quality associated with an individual quality”.
The head coach of Académico de Viseu, however, did not want to highlight his team’s less good qualities and points, so as not to “deliver anything to the opponent” and chose to “keep quiet”.
“We are aware of our capabilities and limitations, but I will keep them to myself,” he said.
Bruno Pinheiro highlighted that “football is rich in surprises” and acknowledged that Sporting are the favorites for the game, but that didn’t stop him from assuming that his team “believes it is possible” to score.
“We will try, according to our weapons and the analysis we made of the opponent, to present a team that will create difficulties for the opponent and, obviously, the main objective is to get points from there”, assumed Bruno Pinheiro.
Still, he acknowledged that it is a “game of maximum difficulty, but there is also ambition and the desire to win” on the part of Académico de Viseu.
For him, “the best way to defend is by playing with the ball” and, therefore, if Académico de Viseu “wants to play a competent, competitive game with the ability to discuss the result” he will have to “play with the ball and that is the challenge”.
“If we want to have a chance of scoring points, I think that offensive organization, playing with the ball, will be very important and we will have to have that ability. We also know that, no matter how much we play with the ball, we will hardly have any more possession of the ball and we are mentally prepared to suffer, but we are also prepared so that when we are given the opportunity to play with it, we will do everything”, he said.
Académico de Viseu has 14 points and occupies seventh place and, on Sunday, at 8:30 pm, they travel to Sporting, who have 18 points and remain in third place, in a game refereed by Miguel Nogueira, from the Lisbon association.
