Sporting striker's father on Portuguese Cup final: It changes nothing | OneFootball

Just hours before the Portuguese Cup final, footballer Joãozinho, a former Sporting player and father of Rodrigo Graça — who plays for Sporting’s U-15 team — gave a blunt assessment of the impact the outcome of the match could have on Sporting’s season review, arguing that the trophy alone does not erase the failure to achieve the main objective.

“I usually say that when a big team doesn’t win the main objective of the season, which is becoming national champion, the Portuguese Cup doesn’t save anything. For the fans of a big team, the goal is to win the league, and when you don’t win it and only win the Portuguese Cup, given the level of demand from the supporters, the Portuguese Cup is not a salvation for anyone,” he said in statements to Agência Lusa.

Even so, the Oriental full-back stressed that Torreense’s season should be seen in a positive light, regardless of the result of the final at Jamor, highlighting the consistent campaign of the West-side team throughout the season. “From the perspective of the club from the West, I believe it has already been a very successful season. The fans would be more disappointed if the team failed to earn promotion, because they would feel they came up just short, than by losing the Cup final,” he explained.

Regarding the match between Sporting and Torreense, Joãozinho did not hide the difference in quality between the two teams, giving strong favoritism to the Lions. “90 for Sporting and 10 for Torreense. It has to be a team thinking that it is facing a difficult opponent and not thinking that the game will be settled sooner or later, since in football there are surprises”, he warned.

The green-and-white side return to action next Sunday, May 24, against Torreense. The match, valid for the Portuguese Cup final against the side coached by Luís Tralhão — who imitated Ruben Amorim —, is scheduled to kick off at 5:15 p.m. at Jamor.

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