Now, facing the Egyptians, coach Filipe Luís stated, in a press conference, that he does not expect to find any facilities
In search of qualification for the FIFA Club Intercontinental Cup decision, Flamengo takes the field against Pyramids (Egypt) from 2pm (Brasília time) this Saturday (13th) at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium, in the city of Al Rayan (Qatar).
The semifinal clash comes after a debut in which Rubro-Negro da Gávea did not perform well, but counted on the brilliance of Uruguayan attacking midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta to defeat Cruz Azul (Mexico) by a score of 2-1 last Wednesday (10).
Now, facing the Egyptians, coach Filipe Luís stated, in a press conference, that he does not expect to find it easy: “We expect a very difficult game. I know a lot about Egyptian football, as I played with Salah at Chelsea [Inglaterra]. But I think the part that makes me look the most is the physicality of the players. They are very strong, can run for a long time and never get tired. This is why it is very difficult to win matches [contra eles]”.
Last Friday (12), Pyramids’ coach, Croatian Krunoslav Jurcic, also held a press conference, in which he said that he respects Flamengo a lot: “Flamengo has great players and perhaps we don’t have such experienced players. I have respect for Flamengo.”
For Flamengo, good news could be the appearance of center forward Pedro during the match with the Egyptians. According to Filipe Luís, the player, who spent a period of time sidelined due to a muscle injury in his left thigh, should receive minutes in this Saturday’s game: “Our planning for him [Pedro] It depends on day-to-day developments. In today’s training we will decide whether he can have minutes or not tomorrow. My expectation is that he will have minutes.”
Whoever advances between Flamengo and Pyramids will compete in the FIFA Intercontinental Club Cup final next Wednesday (17), starting at 2pm (Brasília time) at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium.
*Brazil Agency
