Lucas Oliveira: Corinthians close to wins, hails futsal signing | OneFootball

Corinthians drew 3-3 with Santo André in a Liga Nacional de Futsal (LNF) match and continues to look for a turnaround in the competition. After the final whistle, goalkeeper Lucas Oliveira gave an interview and analyzed the team’s current moment, their position in the standings, the lack of confidence caused by recent results, and the arrival of a new signing for the black-and-white squad.

Initially, the player was asked about Corinthians’ proximity to the relegation zone and said that, although the situation in the standings requires attention, the group remains focused on higher objectives in the competition.

Photo: Reproduction / YouTube

“Man, of course the table doesn’t lie, we’re close to it. But the reality at Corinthians is to look upward. We had a game today where we could have pulled a little farther away. Man, whoever was here saw the game. We were all over them, but we didn’t score. They came forward a few times, scored their goals, and were a bit more efficient. It happens—it shouldn’t happen, but it does. And now we have the Cup, which is a knockout tournament. Maybe that’s the shortest path to a title this season. We’re going to focus on that game now, which will be very difficult. But in the League, we’re aiming to be in the qualification zone.”

Next, Lucas commented on the team’s emotional state. According to him, recent results naturally affect the players’ confidence, but the performances shown in matches indicate that the team is close to winning again.

“Yes, yes. Man, it’s natural that, because of the results, you lose a bit of confidence. But again, look at the game we played today. The game we played there in Santo André. We didn’t deserve the draw. Of course, we didn’t score the goals. But you can see the amount of play, how many chances we created. We’re just missing a little bit. That’s it—that little bit that’s missing is what will allow us, in the next games, God willing, to get the wins.”

Asked about the start of the match and the goals conceded against Santo André, the goalkeeper disagreed with the assessment that Corinthians started poorly and emphasized the team’s attitude even after falling behind on the scoreboard.

“I’m going to disagree with you a little. I didn’t think we started poorly. It’s hard for me to say because it sounds like I’m just defending the team. But, come on, we also started the game all over them. Ball off the post, chances that were almost goals. And they came down once and scored, then they came down another time and scored.

Maybe we lacked a little concentration on a certain play, because we conceded two goals. And then the pressure is much greater because you’re 2-0 down. But I also see that we didn’t lose ourselves in the game at 2-0. Maybe at other times we might have attacked recklessly and lost our shape, but no. Our team, even though it has a lot of young players, has already shown the maturity to come back from 2-0 down.

We got to 2-2, conceded to make it 3-2, and again we didn’t lose ourselves, making it 3-3. And then, man, it leaves the feeling that we can do more. I see that this situation in the table is difficult, but in the games, whether they’re against teams near the top or the bottom, we’re always close to winning. We’re just not managing to do it. It’s hard for us to have a game where a team comes here, gets a ton of shots on goal, and we’re way below their level. Maybe in the first half against Joinville that happened, where we were below par, didn’t create much, and gave up a lot of shots on goal. But in all the other games we’ve had good volume and ended up conceding and not scoring. It’s happening, and we’re trying to change it.”

Lastly, Lucas spoke about Corinthians’ new signing and highlighted the importance of the player’s experience for the squad, as well as the positive impact his arrival could have with the fans.

“Yes, I think you’ve already answered the question. He’s going to help us a lot with his experience. He’s a seasoned guy, someone who has already been through many game situations, many championship situations. He’s going to help us a lot.

I also think he can help bring the fans in, but I believe that as soon as things turn around and we start winning again—which is what we believe will happen—the fans will embrace us again. They already do, the fans support us, but they’ll start showing up again.”

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