Dorival admits Dória's errors soured match, backs No. 4 | OneFootball

Coach Dorival Júnior tried not to crucify center-back Dória after yet another disastrous performance for São Paulo, although he did acknowledge that the player did make a mistake on the play that led to Millionarios’ equalizer on Tuesday (19) at Morumbi in the Copa Sudamericana.

If over the weekend the defender could indeed be singled out as mainly responsible for the loss to Fluminense, after gifting the Rio side two goals, on this night he handed the ball to the Colombian opponent while trying to clear it upfield.

That was not all. In the 43rd minute of the second half, Dória also committed a childish penalty that, had it not been missed, would have meant a come-from-behind defeat right at Morumbi.

For all that, Dorival tried to downplay his decision to start the No. 4 instead of Sabino, who has earned undisputed starter status this year.

“You can’t punish the player for one mistake. You can’t put all the responsibility for what has been happening on him. There was a mistake, yes, it happened, but the player naturally has to seek to recover,” he said.

“You will only help him recover by giving him confidence so he can perform under his best conditions. I have always thought that way about players; football is a team game, you don’t win through individual efforts. The choice was based on everything we had seen up to that point; we listened to a lot of people so we could make our initial decisions, but little by little now we are trying to shape things according to what we want and what we will need,” he added.

Regarding Dória’s mistakes, the coach stressed that they were indeed crucial to the final result of the match. And, just as he did in his introductory press conference, he highlighted that São Paulo’s main immediate objective is to restore the confidence not only of the defender, but of the entire squad.

“A small mistake ends up creating an uncomfortable situation. We were not under that much pressure at any point in the match that it should have caused such great discomfort. Quite the opposite. The first mistake ended up blowing up. That balance is something we naturally need to find. And we will only achieve it with a lot of work and total commitment. The team has already shown it has quality,” he said.

“I was a player for 20 years, and I know what a mistake in a match means. It stays in your head for a long time, unfortunately, but it happens. Any of us, if we lose our balance during a game, it is natural that we need time to process it all and turn the situation around,” he added.

The result delays São Paulo’s plans to secure qualification in the Copa Sudamericana as leaders of Group C, which would guarantee a direct spot in the round of 16. With 9 points, they could lose top spot if O’Higgins beat Boston River in Uruguay this Wednesday (20).

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 the following Tuesday (26) against Boston River, again at home.

“We need a positive result, and anxiety has been getting the better of reason because any minimal mistake ends up exploding in our own goal. From everything everyone has told us, that is what has been happening in the matches,” said the coach.

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