Abel Ferreira rues draw, believes in a ‘magical night’ in the Libertadores | OneFootball

Follow the leader. In a tense match with refereeing that did not help the flow of the game, Palmeiras drew 0-0 with Cruzeiro at the Allianz Parque. With this result, Verdão remains at the top of the national competition, now with a one-point lead over Flamengo.

After the match, Abel Ferreira spoke to the press about the refereeing and the upcoming Libertadores return leg.

Speak up, Abel Ferreira!

Lengthy answer on refereeing

At the start of the press conference, Abel Ferreira commented on the statements made by Leonardo Jardim, from Cruzeiro, and gave his opinion on the refereeing.

— I have been living in a dilemma since I arrived in Brazil. I was listening to Leonardo — whom I admire and have worked with — and he said he came to enjoy Brazilian football. He spoke harshly about refereeing, the players’ union, pitches, and the schedule. I’ve been doing this since the day I arrived. I’ve always said I was here to value Palmeiras and Brazilian football. It’s in the book.

— I want to tell him that he spoke correctly, but this doesn’t depend on us, the coaches, but on those who make the decisions. These are the people who can make Brazilian football easier in the future. The CBF has different criteria: with referee Abatti it’s one thing, with Mr. Wilton it’s another. One goes to the fridge, the other keeps refereeing.

— I want them to listen carefully to Mister Jardim, a person I admire a lot. There are many aspects that need improvement. This dilemma of who plays, when they play, is a result of our schedule, of our participation in the Club World Cup. What Palmeiras should have done was not play on the FIFA Date — but the CBF scheduled us a game.

— It’s a huge dilemma. We knew the match would be tough. Even those who didn’t start were tired. I arrived exhausted — imagine the players — against a team that had a full week to prepare.

— The good thing is that I’ve been through all this in Portugal, and there they solved it. But action is needed, decisions must be made. I understand what Leonardo said, I understand his frustration — just as I understand mine, in the last match I played at Maracanã.

— The narratives that are created, that A or B is more favored… Palmeiras doesn’t have the same strength in the media as other clubs. Palmeiras is not favored. All clubs are sometimes favored and sometimes harmed.

— There’s no point in pointing out a scapegoat, creating this hypocritical narrative that Palmeiras is always helped. There is a longstanding problem that needs to be solved: having refereeing independent from the CBF, with clear and coherent criteria. You can’t have one referee keep officiating and another sidelined, and still say we have secure refereeing. This is serious. Don’t play around with this.

— Wouldn’t it be better to create an independent refereeing team? Train more referees, a broader core? Is it possible? Yes — in less competitive leagues, they already do this. — he said in a lengthy answer.

Magical night?

— I hope what happened with Boca Juniors doesn’t happen, when they even whistled for thoughts. Today, the referee also whistled for thoughts! He didn’t let the game flow, kept stopping it all the time. There’s a lot to improve. I hope on Thursday we have refereeing that doesn’t whistle for thoughts.

— Cruzeiro is full of great players and has a great coach. They press very well. He knew perfectly well how tired we were. I was only able to prepare for the game this morning. Yesterday was recovery; the day before, we arrived here.

— I asked the doctor for something to sleep, because I couldn’t even make it to the training session — I stayed in my room, they even thought I had left. I, who didn’t even run, was like this… imagine the players!

— The dilemma was: who to take out? Take everyone out? I needed the leaders on the field. If football were certain, it would lose its charm. I knew it would be a tough game. I even tried to trick the players, but now we have three days. And, as I said, 90 minutes is a long time here.

Comebacks at home

— There’s a first time for everything. I thought I’d never get married — “how will I ask my girlfriend’s father?” — and I did it. I thought I’d never be a football player… and I did it. It’s not the first time this has happened in football. What defines me, and what defines us, is not the results, but how we face them. What defines us is what we’re going to do now, on Thursday.

— I believe a lot. I have faith. There may be dark clouds, people who think everything is wrong — I stay away from them, they don’t help at all. It was by believing in the work that I got to Palmeiras.

What now?

Palmeiras faces LDU next Thursday (30th), hoping to secure a spot in the Libertadores final. It’s not an easy task for Abel Ferreira’s team, who lost 3-0 in Quito.

In the Brasileirão, Verdão returns to the field next Sunday (2nd), against Juventude, at Alfredo Jaconi, at 6:30 pm (Brasília time)

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