Farioli focuses on what he wants on the field and comments on the appointment of referee Miguel Nogueira.
FC Porto coach Francesco Farioli, in statements at the press conference previewing the second leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-final against Sporting, this Wednesday (8:45 pm), at the Estadio do Dragão . The Dragons’ coach revealed how he wants his players to receive Sporting on the field, commented on the appointment of referee Miguel Nogueira and spoke about the connection with the fans.
Rui Borges said he hopes to be received like FC Porto was received at Alvalade.
The logistics are one of the few things I’m not in charge of. From my side, what we’ll try to do is welcome them well on the field with the right organization and the spirit we need, with the aggression we must bring to the pitch both on and off the ball, with the belief and desire necessary to achieve what we deserve.
Appointment of Miguel Nogueira
He was in the Classico [against Benfica] and in many games as the fourth official. I expect a great performance, because he’s a big part of the game. Tomorrow, only the people who deserve to be there will be there. His appointment proves that he has the quality to be there and do a great job.
FC Porto has already broken the attendance record at the Dragao stadium.
There’s a strong chemistry between the team and the fans. We know what our fans are like, always very warm, you can feel them wherever you are, whether at the Dragao stadium, in European competitions or domestic competitions. Therefore, we are very grateful. This increase in numbers, in terms of the record that was broken, is perhaps because we started with a very young team, which was perhaps an underdog in the league, with the spirit of trying to rebuild something, and this process has been very fast. There were games where we weren’t perfect, but rarely did the fans leave the stadium with the feeling that we didn’t give our all. We all know the problems we’ve had this season, but the team has so far made an incredible effort to overcome the difficulties and absences, to play with the spirit of a dragon. That’s what we’ve been doing and what we want to do tomorrow as well.
