1994 hero Nildo urges Grêmio to show warrior spirit to win Gre-Nal | OneFootball

Nildo Bigode, the man who sealed Grêmio’s 1994 Copa do Brasil, has urged a warrior spirit before Thursday’s Gre-Nal at the Arena. He sees echoes of that season and has outlined how the team can progress.

According to Globo.com, Luís Castro’s side have struggled in the Brasileirão and view the cup as a reset. The tie is 0-0 after the first leg at Beira-Rio, with kick-off at 20:00 on Thursday.

Grêmio remain unbeaten in this year’s competition after eliminating Confiança and Mirassol. Nildo called for front-foot pressing, more risk, fights for every ball, calm heads that ignore provocation, and commitment to bring the crowd with them.

He recalled how belief built in 1994, with Felipão even organising a barbecue as the group talked of a title and Libertadores. That year Grêmio went unbeaten, knocking out Criciúma, Corinthians, Vitória and Vasco, then beating Ceará 1-0 at the Olímpico after a 0-0 in the Castelão.

For him, Gre-Nal is won with intelligence, strong duels, accurate passing and service into Carlos Vinicius. He argued that if the striker receives three chances he will score and they will advance, which could open a push for another title and a share of Copa do Brasil ‘king’ status alongside Cruzeiro.

Whoever wins on Thursday reaches the semi-finals. Another draw would send the tie to penalties.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”