Jorge Cadete: Pote and Morita are nailed-on starters for Sporting | OneFootball

Jorge Cadete considers Sporting the favorite for the derby with Benfica, and anticipates Pote's starting role in the big match of the 13th round of Liga Portugal Betclic. The former green and white player spoke to Leonino, exclusively, and previewed the match between lions and eagles - a game that could be at risk after APAF's decision.

"For now, just the Derby itself already brings great influence and motivation to the players. And Sporting is in the form it is, more motivation it has to win the game", Jorge Cadete began by saying in this Exclusive Leonino, pointing out, subsequently, the lions as favorites to win, due to "all the factors" involved in the match.

Jorge Cadete then praised the alternation in the lions' midfield, particularly between João Simões and Morita, before addressing the return of Pedro Gonçalves: "It's like this, Pote hasn't been playing because he was injured, right? Because before that he was an undisputed starter and normally a player of Pote's caliber when returning from injury, may not enter right away in the first games, but being in form, he is an undisputed starter".

The former green and white player did not assign a decisive character to the match, but explained: "This is very simple, in football there are no ifs. When the game starts and ends, you either win, or you draw. With this advance, we cannot say if the draw will give margin, if the draw is two points lost, if the victory is three points gained. Because the championship is long and sometimes you lose points where you don't expect and sometimes you gain points where you don't expect to gain points. Therefore, a derby or another game... The derby always has importance due to the rivalry and the history and tradition of the two clubs. But in terms of football, the impact is one point, the defeat is zero, and the victory is three".

Finally, Jorge Cadete spoke about the appointment of António Nobre, also recalling his playing days: "I will be very honest. Despite the great quality we have in Portuguese refereeing and Portuguese referees, when I watch a game, practically, I don't see the referee. I'm not very concerned in that aspect. When I played, I also didn't have that concern. I was never worried about who the referee was going to be or not. So, as a fan, I also try to have that vision. As long as it doesn't harm us, if it doesn't hinder us, it's already a big help".

"A player as a professional and with the experience that players have at Sporting, Benfica, Porto, and other big clubs, if we sometimes are in a game with 60,000 people booing us and calling us names and it doesn't affect us, much less the referee's mistake, we ourselves make mistakes during the game too", concluded the former player, who played 203 matches wearing the lion on his chest.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.