Corinthians secured their place in the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil after beating América-MG 3-1 on penalties this Saturday at the Neo Química Arena. In regular time, Timão won 3-2. In a press conference, coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo stressed that the team must enjoy the standings.
The commander, however, also asked for feet on the ground. In his analysis it is still necessary to make some tactical adjustments that were missing in the victory over the miners.
“It’s the first time I’ve played together with this team, I’ve missed many things. The midfielders need to make more lateral passes. Renato also needs to get closer to the attack. We’re on the right track, but he’s a long shot. We need to put our feet up to ground. Savoring the victory, we earned this right to be in the semifinals. We worked for this and we have to enjoy it because it was very nice,” he said.
The experienced coach also took the opportunity to talk about Yuri Alberto. The striker, who had been heavily criticized by the crowd, scored a goal in regular time and converted the last penalty kick.
“Yuri always said it’s a phase, he hasn’t forgotten to play ball. Sometimes he hits and goes out, but sometimes he goes in. It’s football. I’ve never bothered. When I needed to take it off, I took it off. But it’s easy to take it off, he won’t be able to demonstrate that he has quality. You have to be calm. It was a difficult, intense and painful victory because Corinthians are like that,” he said.
Another highlight of the match was goalkeeper Cássio, who saved two penalties. Luxemburgo underlined the importance of having a penalty taker in the decisions.
“He’s a Corinthians idol. He’s a penalty taker. He, Dida, when he opens his embrace, the goal is small. It occurs to the player that he (Cássio) is a penalty taker. that we have a penalty taker. It’s very important that you have a penalty taker in goal. I asked for calm,” he analyzed.
In the semifinals, Corinthians faces San Paolo, who eliminated Palmeiras. On the other side of the group, Flamengo and Grêmio are contending for a place in the grand final. The CBF has not yet defined the dates for the next phase. With the ranking, Clube do Parque São Jorge still pocketed prize money of R$ 9 million.
“Everything I’ve won is behind me. The most important thing is what’s to come. Measuring a career by one game or one competition is very unfair. It’s a whole trajectory that needs to be evaluated. If we achieve conquest, it will be the most important that everyone has passed. But it’s still a long way off. There are four more games. We have to be calm and work,” concluded the coach.
Corinthians now turns its attention to Sul-Americana. The club will visit Universitário, from Peru, on Tuesday at 21:30 for the second leg of the playoffs. In the first leg Timão won 1-0.
Source: Terra
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