Coach recalled the imbalance in relation to rivals and attacked the club’s leaders for not hearing it: ‘I’m worried’
Open O, this Saturday (14), at 21h (Brasília time), against the Egyptian Al-Ahly, but coach Javier Mascherano is far from being satisfied. Despite having the ace and playing with wide support from the American fans, the Argentine coach tried to put hot cloths over the chances of his team and regretted the lack of reinforcements.
“The goal is to try to compete for the best we can, as we do in all competitions, knowing that we will face high -level teams,” Mascherano analyzed at a news conference on the eve of the premiere without creating many expectations. “I would like to have hired players, of course, especially considering this type of competition. We are possibly in the most important competition in our club history.”
Mascherano recalled the imbalance in relation to rivals-his team will also face Porto and the first phase-and attacked Inter Miami leaders for not listening to him. “I am concerned about what I can control and what I can do. Then everyone will have to take on their responsibilities and comment on what they need to do. We needed to strengthen other positions, and that didn’t happen,” he complained. “We talked for two months about how we needed to reinforce the cast, we decided to release two vacancies, those of Taylor and Grassel, to add new athletes.”
For Mascherano, his compatriot Lionel Messi, 37, arrives in good condition for the Club World Cup after suffering from physical problems during the season. “He played in our last 15 matches, except in the game against Dallas, when he was spared to the Champions League semifinals. We were also lucky for him to have rested in one of two matches of Argentina,” he said, referring to the qualifiers. “Expectations for Messi are the best. We try to create an environment around you so that it can shine.”
Despite the pessimism regarding Florida as a whole, Mascherano admitted, in the end, Europeans are favorite to the title. “It’s normal for some European team to win, due to the quality of their casts, would be a surprise if it happened otherwise, but why couldn’t we be that surprise?” He asked. “It is trying to compete and face one game at a time. For us, the most important game, as we have said since the beginning of the season, is next, tomorrow, and then we will see.”
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
