Sintrense hoping for a miracle against FC Porto in the Portuguese Cup | OneFootball

Ricardo Oliveira, who holds 90 percent of the shares of Sintrense’s SAD, assured: “We’re not going to Dragão to lose the game [of the fourth round of the Cup], but to show our strengths, aware that FC Porto has more than we do.”

The match marks the third time in recent years that Sintrense faces FC Porto in the Portuguese Cup; on the previous two occasions, they were knocked out in the third round, after a 3-0 defeat in 2024/25 and a 5-0 loss in 2021/22.

“We were eliminated in the past and, as expected, we’ll be eliminated again. Especially playing against FC Porto at Dragão, but miracles do happen. Nevertheless, we’re not going to Dragão to lose,” said Ricardo Oliveira.

The majority shareholder emphasized that the primary objective of the team, which plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, is to win promotion, which is why that goal must remain the main focus, despite the appeal of facing FC Porto.

“Going to Dragão is a joy and a good [financial] ‘cushion’ for a team like Sintrense, but they [the players] can’t take their attention away from the league, which is where we’re fighting for promotion,” explained Ricardo Oliveira.

A Sporting fan, a club for which he ran for president in the last elections, Ricardo Oliveira said he has “a lot of respect for FC Porto” and a “genuine fondness for its president,” André Villas-Boas, with whom he has “an excellent relationship.”

“We’ll give our best, because that’s the spirit of Sintrense, and at the final whistle we’ll see who won, but the greater probability is that it will be FC Porto,” he acknowledged, admitting, however, that the theoretically favored team doesn’t always win.

The victory over Rio Ave (3-2) – a match that left Ricardo Oliveira in enormous tension, to the point that he left the stands and only returned in the last minute of stoppage time – gave him “immense joy” and illustrates how the Cup can bring surprises.

“With all due respect to Rio Ave [of the First League], who on paper were much stronger than Sintrense, this is football and that’s how the Cup is. Football and sport are like that, and on that day Sintrense was better,” acknowledged the club owner.

Ricardo Oliveira also recalled that, in the previous round, Sintrense eliminated Vizela, from the Second League, and attributed the club’s positive moment to leadership, hard work, competence, and a strong collective spirit.

“We have been building a great group and this season we are even stronger. The coaching staff is new, competent, the players have different characteristics, and the team spirit is also very strong,” he added.

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