THE Goalkeeper João Félix still experiences today the “incredible feeling” of defending and scoring in the penalty shoot-out that qualified Olhanense, from the first district division of the Algarve, for the fourth round of the Portuguese Football Cup.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the ‘guardian’ recalled the moment that dictated the passage of the Algarvians in the ‘queen race’ on Sunday, leaving Oliveira do Hospital, from the Portuguese Championship, along the way.
After the 1-1 draw, after extra time, the match, played at the José Arcanjo Stadium, in Olhão, went to a penalty shoot-out, where, after 17 attempts, the ‘hero’ João Félix appeared.
Olhanense’s goalkeeper saved the penalty taken by Lucas Silva, Oliveira do Hospital’s goalkeeper, and then took the decisive penalty.
“Not much came to mind. It was catching the ball, having confidence in the decisive penalty, scoring and helping the team win”, commented João Félix.
The moment was reminiscent of the tiebreaker between Portugal and England, in the 2004 European Championship, when Ricardo, goalkeeper for the Portuguese team, committed a similar feat.
“I didn’t even remember that, but when I arrived at the locker room, my colleagues immediately started talking about it and we remembered”, he recalled, laughing.
Since Sunday, “several messages” of congratulations have arrived on the Olhanense goalkeeper’s cell phone, some of them from former Benfica teammates, such as Diogo Prioste and José Melro.
“I don’t feel like a hero because it was an extraordinary effort by the team to get to the penalties. Of course, the decision on penalties is more focused on the goalkeepers, but, until it was my turn, there were other colleagues of mine who scored”, considered the athlete from the Algarve team.
Olhanense is the only team from the district championships still competing in the Portuguese Cup, but João Félix rejects any title of ‘sensation team’.
“Our objective is the championship. We will try to beat the opponent that comes in the Portuguese Cup, knowing that it will become increasingly difficult”, he stressed.
Regarding his dream of playing against a ‘big’, the ‘keeper’ doesn’t hide the fact that he has a “different impact”.
“All the players prefer it, but if it doesn’t happen, it’s great that we are in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup”, he concluded.
