Ian Cathro on Porto vs Estoril chaos: "They tried to intimidate me" | OneFootball

Ian Cathro offered effusive praise to the Estoril players who, despite the defeat at Estádio do Dragão (0-1), delivered, in his view, a top-level performance. Speaking to Sport TV, the coach of the canary team also addressed the altercation with the FC Porto bench after the final whistle and ended with a message directed at those who tried to intimidate him.

“We don’t know how to do anything else [but play face to face]. My choice to come to Portugal and work here was to do something different. And it was, ‘we’re not going to play with fear.’ Unfortunately, we have points that don’t reflect the quality we have, but I think today was very important for the people in the studio, and for those who write things, not to talk... I’m expecting a lot of words about [FC Porto’s] game on Thursday, tired players, that maybe that allowed Estoril to have the ball, also because they play more or less well. I hope that’s not the case. I will never talk about justice based on the result. Life isn’t fair, I know that. But there has to be fairness in the analysis of the quality of the game and the players’ work. And I hope there is fairness in these analyses,” he initially stated.

Estoril surprised tactically – could this be a new face of the team? “As I said before the game: my responsibility here is to always try to improve. We’re going to face other different opponents, with different routines. Maybe we tried to play like a big team, but we’re not big. We don’t have those resources. What we do have is a lot of humility, a lot of hard work during the week, and the ability to adjust. And to get the most out of the squad and the players. You need to have a coach with the ability to be versatile to get the most out of the players.”

There’s the impression that Guitane has the quality to play for a big club… Does having players with that skill give you security? “You can add more names there… I understand the question, but for me it would be absurd not to do that. It’s hard to answer with any other explanation. That’s just how I am. I can’t see it any other way.”

At the end of the match, and already in the first half, you applauded your team several times. There’s no moral victory, but do you leave the Dragão proud? “I leave very curious to see how people talk about this game. And honestly, I don’t want to see news talking about the fatigue of the opposing team, which allowed Estoril to grow and play more or less well. I want to read about the quality of our game and our players.”

Was there any incident between the benches? “No… I really wanted to tell mister Farioli that I was truly impressed with his work. It’s not easy to come here. He’s done good work before and here he’s doing an excellent job. That was obvious. But when I wanted to go ahead of him, I think he felt I had pushed him. And then the arguments started and I don’t like it when people touch my face. It’s a more Latin thing. On the other side, there were other people, and I have some issues with those people. They wanted to intimidate me and I think they made a big mistake. Maybe they don’t know that it’s impossible.”

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