On the verge of another final for Flamengo, Philip Luis took advantage of the press conference this Saturday (13) to praise the quality of Paris Saint-Germainrival next Wednesday for the final of Intercontinental Cup. After the victory of the Rio team over Pyramidsthe Brazilian coach assessed his team’s season and came up with a plan to surprise Luis Enrique and co.
“It’s a privilege to play another final with Flamengo,” said the captain. “It’s very difficult to achieve this feat. We have to value the efforts that the players are making this season. There are 75 games, if I’m not mistaken. Wednesday will be game number 76.”
“There are a lot of minutes, a lot of effort from my players and they are having a splendid season. You can see that their hunger and ambition never ends,” he added.
Then he compared similar scenarios experienced by Flamengo this season. The Rio team participated in the new Club World Cup, where they had the experience of facing opponents from all over the world. In the group stage, they beat Chelsea 3-1. Shortly after, the English team would become champions of the unprecedented tournament against the same PSG, which would be Flamengo’s next engagement. Flamengo fell in the round of 16 to Bayern Munich.
“I think every match has a different story. In the United States there was a different climate, a different pitch, the ball… everything was different from what it is today,” Filipe Luís said. “We are going to face the current champion of Championsthe best team in the world, with the best coach in the world… and we will try to play a perfect match. This is the only way we can have a chance of winning this match against this opponent.
One of Flamengo’s triumphs in the win over Pyramids and in the season as a whole was the set goals. This Saturday, defenders Léo Pereira and Danilo were responsible for ensuring victory against their African rival. Both goals were scored from high, as in the Libertadores final.
“The dead ball is an important part of the game, a phase where we give the necessary value,” he stressed. “As for Rodrigo Caio, everyone already knows the confidence I have in him. But we support the players. The real protagonists are the players. The most important goal in my coaching career was on a dead ball (Danilo, at Libertadores)… that’s because the players are also very good at this stage of the game. Instead of giving credit to those who are off the pitch, we have to give credit to those who are on the pitch.”
Regarding the defensive sector as a whole, Filipe Luís highlighted that Flamengo’s difference does not only lie in the defensive players, but also in those on the team’s front line. In the duel with Pyramids, Flamengo did not concede any goals.
“The result of today’s match does not deceive me, because we did not concede a goal when we could have done so,” said the red and black coach. “Everything is not perfect because we didn’t concede any goals. It’s the first step to understand that it was 2-0, but it couldn’t have been,” he said, putting his feet on the ground.
“The defense is very solid, because 10 players are defending. And those who run the most are the players in front. This makes the work of our defense much easier, in addition to being a very high level defense which, even when the opponent manages to break our pressure, can support a lot,” he added.
Return scorer
A novelty in the Flamengo team was the use of Pedro, who only had a few minutes on the pitch. Even after about 10 minutes of action, he created some good chances and almost helped make the scoreline even more elastic.
“We will wait until Wednesday, an hour before the match, to know if Pedro will be in the team or not,” Filipe Luís said, lowering expectations for the number 9’s presence on the pitch in the final against PSG.
“He is undoubtedly a very different player. When he touches the ball he makes the difference. He came on in the 85th, he had two chances to score. He is there in the box, he enters the box, he knows how to finish and generates a feeling of danger. And another chance he created. In addition to the sequential plays in the attack he makes. The ball lands on his foot and he does not die. The ball lands on his foot and the game thrives. With these minutes I hope he can train more and play more minutes in the match against Paris.”
Historic brand
When he arrived at Flamengo in 2019, Filipe Luís was Brazilian champion, Libertadores champion and reached a World Cup final (in this case, the Intercontinental Cup). Today, six years later, he repeats the same feat. This time as a coach, with just over a year in the role. The journey has been the same so far: national and continental titles, as well as an international final.
“It’s been incredible, I’m very happy. I’m very proud of my players, because they believe in me and follow what I feel in football. Winning titles at the club I love is the greatest joy of my life,” he said.
“It’s not easy,” replied Filipe Luís when asked how to maintain such a compact team amid so many commitments and achievements. “It was a year where we had defeats, criticism, we were criticized. We had great games, we had bad games. I really enjoy this whole part of the process. I love it because I’m doing what I love, with the players I love, at the club I love,” he stressed.
“These criticisms put me to sleep, because I know what I’m doing. I know the path, I know the process. It doesn’t guarantee that you will be champion. We could have lost everything and I would speak differently. But I really enjoyed this whole process. I’m happy in what I’m doing, I have the support of my family and I’m going to enjoy this final,” he concluded.
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