Calleri: penalty weighed a ton, Boca tie “will be special” | OneFootball

Calleri scored one of the goals, from the penalty spot, in São Paulo’s 3-1 win over Bolívar on Tuesday night (18), which secured qualification for the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinals.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first half, Tricolor conceded the equalizer, sending a chill through Morumbi, which was already fearing the same negative script from the team’s recent matches. And Calleri thought the same.

“It felt like the same story repeating itself for the tenth time. When I looked at the clock, it was fifteen, twenty-something. I said, once again we have a good first half, score a goal, and in the second half once again, of course, they want to score to get level, so they keep pushing forward more and more, and Asprilla scores a great goal from outside the box, right into the top corner. And once again it felt like the same story,” the No. 9 told ESPN after the match.

“But we talked a lot during the week about what could happen if they scored. We kept playing more and more on the front foot. We got a penalty that I hadn’t seen. And that penalty felt like it weighed a hundred kilos.”

“But everyone gave me the confidence to take it and, luckily, I was able to score. Then Sabino scored the goal that sealed qualification, and we’re going home happy, just like the fans who came to support us on a weekday, on a Tuesday night, 40,000, 44,000 people, with the team having gone six games without a win.”

“So we have to congratulate everyone, applaud the fans who came today. Luckily, the fans got to go home with the win. We had to hold on to this qualification with everything because it’s the only competition where we can fight to be champions, and today I think that, despite some difficulties, we played a good game, so to speak, and we got the win,” concluded the Argentine Tricolor player.

The matchup in the next stage of the Sudamericana is now one between giants: São Paulo vs. Boca Juniors. The Argentines thrashed Recoleta and will be Tricolor’s opponents in the quarterfinals of the South American competition, a team Calleri played for in his home country.

“I’m a São Paulo fan, I’ve lived this story for ten years and I’m very happy here. I renewed for two more years and I hope to stay as long as possible, because this is my home. But it’s a special match for me, I’m going back to La Bombonera after 11 years, or 10 years. And it’s going to be a very special match, I think my whole family will be there.”

“I have a lot of friends who are surely already sending messages. But we’re going to fight there to try to win and come back here to decide the tie. We know it’s a very difficult match and we have a very good team with a great coach. And we’re going to do everything we can to qualify,” Calleri said.

The Sudamericana quarterfinal matches against Boca are scheduled for September 9 and 16. Because they had the better campaign, São Paulo should play the second leg at Morumbi. Before that, however, the club turns its attention back to the Brazilian Championship, where it also needs to show a response: it faces Chapecoense away from home at 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on Sunday (23).

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