Abel Braga: Saving Internacional bigger than Club World Cup | OneFootball

Coach Abel Braga gave a press conference after the 3-1 victory over Red Bull Bragantino at Beira-Rio, a result that confirmed Internacional's stay in the Serie A of the Brazilian Championship. The coach commented that the fight against relegation affected him more than winning the World Cup with the club in 2006.

“I think there is a legacy, not from Abel, but a legacy that we cannot even think, nor admit that Internacional will go through a moment like this again. This moment for me was much more important than the World Cup. I told some of you at the World Cup, Inter was not a favorite for anything. If we were runners-up, we would be very happy. Wow, we are the second-best club in the world. But today, I know the pain. I know what the Colorado was feeling,” he said.

“I saw people around me, having family members threatened. This gave me more reason to want to pursue, having with me what I had as the ability to overcome myself. And my biggest concern was that they played as they were playing,” he added.

Last Tenure

The coach also commented on the reasons that led him to return to Internacional and recalled episodes from his previous tenure at the club, especially the 2021 Brasileirão. On that occasion, the 0-0 draw with Corinthians, in a match marked by a penalty and two goals disallowed by VAR, ended up having a direct impact on the title race, which ended up in Flamengo's hands.

“There were many aspects, one of them was to show people that I never had a fight with anyone. I left here in 2021 with a duty fulfilled, knowing that they took a title from me with the whistle. Not my title, they took a title from Inter. I don't know what got into me, because I came extremely confident,” he explained.

Table Situation

With the result, Inter reached 44 points and finished the Brasileirão in 16th place. The stay in the elite was confirmed thanks to the defeats of Ceará, against Palmeiras by 3-1, and Fortaleza, overcome by Botafogo by 4-2.

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