FC Porto under-15s face FC Paços de Ferreira in the run-in | OneFootball

On the eve of the 16th and third-to-last round of the National Under-15 Championship Title Qualification Phase, FC Porto’s under-15 team hosts FC Paços de Ferreira at the Estádio de Pedroso, in a highly demanding context with the schedule tightening. Manuel Prata spoke about a difficult match, how the group has responded to a third game in just one week, and the need to preserve the ambition that has defined the entire season. In essence, he left no room for doubt: “to win the three points at home.”

Top of the table and already in a decisive stage of the competition, the Dragons take the field with little recovery time and a great deal at stake. It was in this setting that Manuel Prata, FC Porto’s under-15 coach, delivered a firm message, grounded in daily demands, the players’ competitive development, and a team determined to keep adding points without losing its discipline.

Given the proximity of an opponent that demands full attention, the Porto coach dismissed any notion of an easy task and reinforced the importance of the team continuing to grow even when results are positive. His concern was not only about respecting FC Paços de Ferreira, but also about demanding more from his own team.

“We know it’s going to be an extremely demanding game. We also know the team is in a good moment, but our standard is that we always want more,” he said. “There are always things to improve in every game so that we can be even more capable of taking the three points.”

The message combines confidence and dissatisfaction, a familiar mix in teams seeking to extend their consistency all the way to the end. Even in a favorable scenario, Manuel Prata prefers to insist on detail and room for improvement, as if each game called for a sharper version than the last.

Asked about the fact that this will be the third match in seven days, the coach framed the competitive workload as a natural part of the group’s development. Rather than seeing it as an obstacle, he presented it as a test and a learning opportunity.

“It’s a challenging scenario, but we have to look at our ultimate objective, which is to prepare these players to reach the first team, and in the first team you often play several times a week,” he explained. “It is an excellent scenario for helping all the players grow.”

From that perspective, the schedule stops being just a temporary difficulty and becomes a developmental tool. According to the coach, what is at stake is not only responding to the next game, but also getting these youngsters used to a level of demand that is part of the next step.

Speaking about the training days, Manuel Prata highlighted above all the dressing room’s mental and competitive state. The picture he drew was that of a group fully connected to the moment and the task at hand.

“The group is extremely concentrated, motivated and focused on the details so that we can win the three points at home.”

The sentence sums up the tone of the entire press conference: concentration, commitment and a very clear sense of what is at stake. More than making grand declarations, the coach focused on meticulous work, that space where the difference between controlling a game and letting it slip away is so often decided.

There was also room to reinforce the consistency of the message throughout the season, without convenient adjustments or changes of direction. Manuel Prata presented ambition as a continuous line, not as a reaction to the current standings.

“The message is to win the three points in every game. It is the same message from the start of the season,” he stressed. “Now we have FC Paços de Ferreira at home to add three points to the table.”

That insistence on the same objective helps explain the competitive atmosphere in Pedroso: the focus is less on outside noise and more on repeating an internal standard of demand. In a championship entering its final bends, the message is that of someone unwilling to give up what brought them this far.

Finally, the coach made an appeal to the stands, recalling the impact support can have at this stage. In a home match, the encouragement coming from the crowd appears as an important complement to what the team already brings prepared.

“At this stage, everything that adds to us is important. The crowd in Pedroso pushes us forward at every moment,” he assured. “We are counting on the support of the Porto fans.”

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