Nuno Dias refuses to manage the squad in the ‘half’ of the Portuguese Futsal Cup – Futsal

Lions team faces the Lions of Porto Salvo, this Friday

Sporting will not manage the squad in the semi-finals of the Portuguese Futsal Cup, on Friday, against the Leões de Porto Salvo, the coach, Nuno Dias, assured today in Sines.

The ‘lions’ take to the ‘court’ of the Pavilhão Multiusos de Sines less than 48 hours after eliminating Belenenses (8-0), in the same location, and 24 hours before the final, if they qualify, but that is the objective that the technician wants to safeguard first.

“I’m not going to manage the squad, I’m going to play with the best for the game and for the moment, in technical and physical terms. If I have to repeat the same ones, I’ll do it again”, assured Nuno Dias, speaking to the Portuguese Federation’s communication channels of football.

The ‘lions’ of Alvalade have already faced the Lions of Porto Salvo twice this season and recorded two victories (4-1 and 6-2), the last of which was in the semi-finals of the League Cup, and Nuno Dias intends to “maintain this tradition”, but recalled that they were “a more balanced game than the results reflected”.

The coach of the Oeiras team admitted that the results were not as expected “due to the merit of Sporting and some demerit of the Leões de Porto Salvo” and anticipated “a very demanding game”.

“We have to be aware and responsible to take the game to what we want, knowing that sometimes we won’t achieve it and we have to be, in those moments, cohesive, united, responsible and humble”, appealed Cláudio Moreira.

In the other semi-final, Sporting de Braga, current leader of the I Liga, faces Caxinas, two days after beating Rio Ave (7-4) in a match that ‘yielded’ 11 goals and the coach admitted that the important thing, in Friday, will be “to score one more goal than Caxinas, whether in regular time or penalties”.

“What we really want is to win and if it has to be a game with so many goals, Sporting de Braga scores more goals than Caxinas. What we really want is to give a positive response at all times”, defined Joel Rock.

Caxinas, moreover, handed the ‘arsenalistas’ their only defeat (2-1) in the I Liga and the ‘vilacondense’ coach recognized that the team has to “look at what they did well”.

“We ended up winning with goals in the last minutes. We have to look at what was done well and what Sporting de Braga tried to exploit and, from there, think of a strategic plan to be able to compete for passage to the final”, he stipulated, Nuno Silva.

Before the men’s semi-finals, the finalists for the women’s Portuguese Cup will also be decided, which will emerge from the Futsal Feijó-Torreense and Novasemente-Benfica matches.

Benfica is the holder of the trophy and the coach, Alexandre Pinto, recognized that “their aspirations are to revalidate the title”, against an opponent who has already defeated the ‘reds’ this season (4-3 in the I League) and “who is in a great moment.”

Novasemente’s coach, Ricardo Rodrigues, acknowledged that the feeling of being in the semi-finals “is a duty accomplished”, but assumed the “objective of reaching the final”, eliminating an opponent who “needs no introduction”.

In the first match of the day, Futsal Feijó faces the only representative from the lower levels at this stage of the competition, but the coach of the team from the south bank, Diogo Patrica, warned that this is a match where “one detail could decide who continues and who gets in the way.”

In turn, Torreense’s coach, Pedro Nobre, leads “a project that started in September”, but admitted that with “a strong commitment and ability to overcome”, the Oeste team can “think about reaching the final, which would be something unique about women’s futsal in Portugal”.

All matches of the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cups, men’s and women’s, will be played on Friday, at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Sines.

By Lusa