Farense's coach said today that his team will appear on Thursday in Alvalade without fear, knowing that a victory against Sporting will ensure passage to the 'final four' of the Football League Cup.
“We are not afraid of falling by the wayside. We're going to play a game in Alvalade against the championship leader and we're not afraid of losing, we're not afraid of anything at all. There is something here that works in [our] favor: winning the game allows us to advance in the competition. That's what's important. This is a decisive game and my players realize that, in the event of a victory, we can give tremendous joy to all the fans, because they have never been in a competition of this scale”, said José Mota.
In previewing the match of the second round of Group C of the League Cup, the coach highlighted that reaching the decisive stage of the competition would be a “very good achievement for the team, for the city of Faro, for everyone who gets involved and likes Farense”.
“We have already done 50% of the work – which was beating Tondela [1-0] here – and now we would like to follow up with the victory in Alvalade”, he added.
José Mota highlighted that Sporting is “a very strong opponent, who plays in their stadium, in their environment”, which will force Farense to be “at a very good level, in all aspects”, to achieve victory.
“We are going to be a Farense in our image, that is, a competitive and organized team, recognizing the value of the opponent”, he promised, adding that his team wants to exploit Sporting’s weaknesses to play the game “one-on-one”.
The Algarve coach recalled that “games with Sporting are always special” and that in his career he has already won “several times” in Alvalade.
“It’s not an unprecedented feat and it’s also not for Farense, who have already won there. But it's always very difficult to beat Sporting. What's more, this Sporting team, which is the leader of the championship, is highly motivated and has an excellent organization in terms of play, excellent squad, excellent coach. Therefore, everything is excellent at the moment for Sporting,” he stated, also noting that Rúben Amorim’s team “has much more responsibility than Farense” as it is a traditional candidate.
Sporting and Farense face each other on Thursday, at 20:15 pm, at the José de Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, in a game refereed by Gustavo Correia, from the Porto association.
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