Luciano appeals to Dorival, says if fresh pain rules him out | OneFootball

São Paulo let it slip at the end and could only manage a 1-1 draw with Millonarios, from Colombia, in a Copa Sudamericana match at Morumbi. The tricolor side’s goal, once again, was scored by Luciano, after a huge blunder by the opposing goalkeeper.

The number 10 spoke right after the match, still on the Morumbi pitch, about the poor result and revealed a request he made to new head coach Dorival Júnior during his presentation to the club.

“At a time like this, we’re lacking a bit of confidence. Yesterday, during Dorival’s presentation to the squad, I asked him, just like last time, to restore the confidence our group needs. I hope this partnership works out once again,” Luciano told SBT.

“We have to improve in several aspects. Today we had several chances, I had a chance to score. We need to improve this part of killing off the game at the right time, because then teams start bringing on forwards and we concede. I hope Dorival helps us with that, he already knows some of us here. I hope he helps us improve that as soon as possible,” the striker continued.

“I think what we need right now is confidence in this turbulent moment. São Paulo have been in a huge mess all year, right? We do need confidence. I hope that in the next match we can already fix that and, with the support of our fans once again, come away with a win against Botafogo,” added the scorer of São Paulo’s goal.

And once again, Luciano left the field in pain, practically dragging himself across the pitch until he was substituted near the end of the match. Asked whether the injury could rule him out of the next clash, against Botafogo in the Brasileirão this weekend, he was direct.

“No, no, no. On Saturday I’ll be back out there on the pitch to try to help my teammates,” Luciano told ESPN.

With the draw, São Paulo have now gone seven straight matches without a win. On Saturday (23), at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), they will try to bounce back in the Brazilian Championship against Botafogo, at Morumbi. Their fate in the Sudamericana will be decided next Tuesday (26), against Uruguay’s Boston River, again at home.

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