Rafael gutted by exit, says São Paulo got cold showers vs LDU | OneFootball

Sadness, frustration, a cold shower, and lessons learned. These were the main words from a dejected Rafael in São Paulo’s interview at Morumbi after the 1-0 defeat to LDU this Thursday (25), which resulted in the team’s elimination in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores.

The goalkeeper repeatedly said that he thought Tricolor was better than the Ecuadorians in both matches, but ended up paying for their mistakes and losing twice, with an aggregate score of 3-0 against them.

“It’s been two years where we’ve fallen in the quarterfinals with a certain frustration, knowing that we could have gone further in the competition, but it’s a very tough tournament, where details often make all the difference in the results, so it’s about learning from these mistakes and fighting through these 14 rounds we have left to try to secure qualification for the Copa Libertadores again,” explained the goalkeeper.

“I think in both games, we actually played well, in every match we gave our all, we had many more chances in both games than their team, but they were more efficient, both offensively and defensively, and I think that’s perhaps the biggest lesson for us, that in a competition like this, it’s not enough to just play better than your opponent, you need to be effective in all areas of the field,” the player continued.

“The three goals we conceded came at moments when we were playing better, pushing for a goal, and maybe in those three moments we let our guard down. On the second goal we conceded, we were playing better at that point. I think we were pushing for a draw, which would have been a good result for us, since we were losing 1-0 there.”

ONE COLD SHOWER AFTER ANOTHER…

“And then, at our best moment, when we had created chances and were pushing forward, we conceded the second goal and it was a cold shower. In fact, after that, they even created another opportunity. And here, too, it was a cold shower, because we spent 40 minutes in the opponent’s half, pressing, creating chances, having opportunities.”

“And we knew we needed a goal to change the atmosphere on the field, their team would get even more nervous and we’d have more time to chase a goal, at least to stay alive in the competition.”

“So it was a cold shower as well, and maybe due to our own carelessness in leaving Boba one-on-one in a play that started from our own set piece, and maybe, in our eagerness to score, we lost focus and conceded the goal.”

LEARNING THE LESSONS…

“So I think that was it, this desire to equalize the game there and here to score quickly was perhaps our biggest mistake, maybe we pushed too far forward, lost focus, and they took advantage.”

“So, credit to the opponent as well for taking advantage of those moments, but I still believe we played better than them in both games, and the lesson is that in these competitions we can’t lose focus at any moment, especially when we’re playing well in the match.”

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