Lucas Freitas blasts refereeing, bounces back in Vasco's Copa do Brasil win | OneFootball

Vasco’s hard-fought 3-2 victory over Sport at Ilha do Retiro had many protagonists, but none experienced such an emotional rollercoaster as defender Lucas Freitas.

Labeled the villain after conceding a controversial penalty in the first half, the defender did not stay silent and, as he left for halftime, he openly expressed all his indignation with the refereeing. The answer, however, came on the field, with a “comeback” that was fundamental for Vasco’s triumph.

The spark for his outrage was the play at the 21st minute of the first half, when the referee awarded a penalty against Freitas for a foul on Matheus Alexandre. The penalty, converted by Lucas Lima, resulted in Sport’s equalizer. In the defender’s view, the call was mistaken and hasty, and he did not hold back in expressing his frustration.

“In a decisive moment you need to be more careful. I told him I didn’t touch the guy because I really didn’t,” vented a visibly irritated Lucas Freitas. “He didn’t even wait for VAR to check. He just said it was a penalty. It hurts not only my work, but the whole team’s.”

The defender concluded with a statement that showed the depth of his commitment and indignation: “I leave upset because this is my life, I’m not playing around.”

Such strong words on the way to the locker room could have shaken the player, but what happened in the second half was the opposite. Right in the first minute of the final period, the same Lucas Freitas, who had been villainized by the refereeing, became the positive protagonist. In an attacking play, he controlled the ball in the box, pulled off a beautiful sombrero over the defender, and was brought down. Penalty for Vasco, converted by Vegetti, which became the winning goal.

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