Abel praises Ceni after Bahia v Palmeiras, hails him as top manager | OneFootball

Rogério Ceni, jabbed at Abel Ferreira after the game between Palmeiras and Bahia, on Sunday. The coach of Tricolor de Aço responded to the Portuguese's remarks about the pitch at Arena Fonte Nova and made comments about the Palmeiras style of play. After the victory over Vasco, on Wednesday, Abel avoided responding to the comment and praised his fellow professional.

"I'm going to be consistent with what I said, even before the game: I have a lot of consideration for Rogério Ceni. For me, he is one of the best Brazilian coaches. He is my colleague, I know how hard it is. My focus is not to comment. What he said is his opinion, it's not my focus. I respect and admire him a lot and I know how hard this profession is," said Abel.

"I don't just admire him, but also Gallardo (from River) and other Brazilian coaches. He (Ceni) even has a bottle of wine that I gave him with great pleasure. I will continue to focus on improving my team, my players, so that Palmeiras continues to win. Then, opinions, everyone has their own," said the coach.

What did Rogério Ceni say?

After Palmeiras' 1-0 defeat to Bahia last Sunday, the Palmeiras coach criticized the state of the pitch at Arena Fonte Nova. At the venue, Verdão saw Lucas Evangelista get injured. The midfielder ruptured the tendon of the right hamstring muscle and will need surgery. Piquerez also had to be substituted in that game, but no injury was detected.

Rogério Ceni, for his part, did not like Abel's criticisms, mentioned the synthetic pitch of Allianz Parque and said that the coach's team "only makes direct connections".

"I think the color was very ugly, really. For Palmeiras, the bad pitch is better because they only make almost direct connections. Their style of play is Weverton-Flaco-Vitor Roque. For us, it hurts more because we play from the back of the ground. We would also like the pitch to be in better condition, but I think it hindered us more than them," said Ceni at the time.

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