Joint call! Vasco weigh resting starters for Sul-Americana opener | OneFootball

Vasco is preparing for a packed April schedule and is already mapping out strategies to avoid wearing down its main squad. Head coach Renato Gaúcho revealed this Thursday (26) that he plans to use a lineup full of backup players in the team’s opening match of the 2026 Copa Sudamericana. The Giant of the Hill’s first international commitment will take place on April 7 (07), in a tough away clash against Barracas Central in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Talks with the board and Vasco’s grueling run of matches

The final decision on who will take the field in Argentina will not be made by the coaching staff alone. The Vasco manager made it clear that the matter will be widely discussed with the football department to align the physical and tactical planning. Vasco will face a brutal marathon of nine matches in April alone, splitting its focus and the squad’s energy between the continental tournament, the decisive stages of the Copa do Brasil, and the rounds of the highly coveted national championship.

During an interview with ge and the program Tá On, the Cruz-Maltino coach explained the decision-making process and the importance of unity with the club’s directors during this stretch of back-to-back matches. He made a point of highlighting the strength of teamwork: “I have my thoughts, and I’ll pass them on to the board. I think four or five heads think better than one. I want to know what the club thinks. We’re going to sit down, talk, and exchange ideas.”

Shift in priorities and Group C rivals

The international path for the São Januário squad in the first phase is already fully mapped out in Group C of the competition. Besides the opening challenge against the Argentinians, the team will also face traditional Olimpia of Paraguay and Audax Italiano of Chile. The current approach of resting the starters right from the start shows a drastic change in mentality in the club’s sporting management, which has chosen not to treat the South American tournament as the absolute priority of the 2026 season.

This change in direction comes after Vasco suffered an elimination with results considered embarrassing in the 2025 edition. Behind the scenes, the board carried out deep self-criticism and admitted that last year’s planning contained a serious strategic mistake by prioritizing the international competition to the total detriment of the Brazilian league rounds. Learning from those recent failures forced the Vasco leadership to adopt a completely different and much more cautious approach to this year’s tournament.

Vasco has a different priority for the Copa Sudamericana – Photo: Matheus Lima/Vasco

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