Santa Clara star shines in Benfica draw thanks to opportunism | OneFootball

Sílvio Criciúma had high praise for his former pupil, Vinícius Lopes, for the goal scored against Benfica, which secured the draw for Santa Clara at Estádio da Luz. The Brazilian coach, who guided the Azorean team's forward, highlighted the striker's opportunism in capitalizing on the mistake made by Nicolás Otamendi.

The Brazilian coach also took the opportunity to talk about Vinícius Lopes in a conversation with Record newspaper: ""He's a 99 kid. In 2017, when we worked together at Goiás, he was about to turn 18. He was already a very strong center-forward, with interesting characteristics, showing promise for the future".

"He was 17 years old and hadn't yet stood out enough to move up to the professional [first team], because of others who were ahead of him, but he was undoubtedly a young man with potential", Sílvio Criciúma added, explaining that the player's future would be "a matter of time and opportunity".

"He caught the attention of Botafogo and played in Serie A in 2022", the former coach of the Santa Clara forward continued, explaining that "he is a very determined, disciplined and extremely focused boy on his goals", and that "he never let himself be brought down by adverse situations (...) He always remained very serious in his day-to-day work".

Lastly, he commented on the importance that the goal scored against Benfica could bring: ""It's a goal that will bring confidence and positivity to him. He's at a very good age (26 years). He hasn't reached the peak of his career, physically and technically. He can have this gain in Europe, in my opinion the best football center in the world. He's there".

Revisit the goal of Santa Clara against Benfica here:

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