Sp. Braga’s central defender highlights the team’s resilience in the victory over Freiburg (2-1).
Paulo Oliveira, central defender for Sp. Braga, highlights the team’s “personality” after their victory over German side Freiburg (2-1) in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final.
I think we had the personality and courage to play as we have been doing since June of last year, a team that has assimilated the processes, and then it’s about fighting against these things that also happen to us (injuries to influential players). It seems that every matchday we lose a player, but another one comes back, and our spirit has to be like that.
Regarding the play that led to Friburgo’s equalizer
We had similar reads of the game, both of us [Sp. Braga players] wanted to put out the fire and give our best for the team. There was a lack of understanding, but we must emphasize the rest, continuing to play forward, and I think we did that. In the last thirty minutes, we spent twenty=five in the opponent’s half, and only in that way did we manage to score the goal that gives us the advantage. Although we are still at halftime of the tie, it’s preferable to be like this than to be at a disadvantage.
Regarding the second leg in Germany
Anyone who thinks that, because we’re in the semi=finals of a major competition, it won’t be a tough and hard=fought game [in Germany] is mistaken, but we’re going there to give our best. We have a dream to fulfill, with ourselves, with our families, our fans, we’re going all out. The tie is only halfway through, we still need to improve what we’ve done, correct small details, which, honestly, after this game, I think are few that need correcting.
