Benfica player sad to leave: my aim was to stay | OneFootball

Tiago Gouveia is on his way out of Benfica and will no longer be an option for Marco Silva for the clash with St. Gallen in the second leg of the 2nd Europa League qualifying round. The Portuguese winger, who will continue his career with Mexican side Atlas, revealed that he wanted to stay at the Club.

Everyone knew that my main goal was to stay at Benfica. I tried to make the most of every opportunity I had. I tried to be happy, unfortunately I couldn’t. It’s time to take a step in my life, a step forward. A year ago I was here saying that I wished Benfica all the best, and I repeat those same words. I wish Benfica all the best, that everyone is happy and, above all, that they become champions and achieve their goals", he told CMTV at Humberto Delgado Airport.

The 25-year-old winger sounded confident about the Eagles’ new season. "I’m very confident for this season, honestly I’m very confident. I think Benfica have a fantastic coach, who in my opinion is the right coach to take Benfica forward. I’m very confident. I’ll be cheering for them and I’m sure that in the end they’ll be very happy", he said.

Regarding the fact that he failed to make it at the Luz, Tiago Gouveia admitted that he bore responsibility for the final outcome. "I think everyone is to blame, especially me. I’m not going to blame others. It was always an internal dialogue I had over the years, that despite the lack of opportunities I may have had, I can’t just blame others. I also have to look at myself, do some introspection, and understand what I could have done better. I came to the conclusion that, in fact, I could have done better. It was more than my obligation. Of course, here and there, I could have had other opportunities. I didn’t. But I think I’m the one most at fault. I take responsibility for my lack of success at Benfica and I truly believe that one day I’ll return", he said.

To conclude, Atlas’s new player left a message for Benfica fans. "They were always impeccable with me. I always felt the love and affection they have for me. I was a person and a player... I was always one of them. They know that. Now I can say it more openly, I was always one of them. I always followed Benfica and I’ll always be cheering for them. Once again, I want to thank them for the support, the affection they always gave me. At Nice, at Benfica, at Estoril, they were always fantastic fans to me. They always showed so much love and affection. It really is love and affection that I feel for them. I’ll always be one of them", he concluded.

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