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

São Paulo slipped up at the end and could only manage a 1-1 draw with Millonarios of Colombia in a Copa Sudamericana match at Morumbi. Once again, the tricolor side’s goal was scored by Luciano, after a major blunder by the opposing goalkeeper.

The No. 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 introduction to the club.

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

“We have to improve in several areas. Today we had several chances, I had a chance to score. We have to improve our ability to kill off the game at the right time, because afterward teams start throwing on attackers and we end up conceding. 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 we need confidence in this turbulent moment. São Paulo have been in a huge mess all year, right? We do need confidence, yes. I hope that in the next match we can already fix that, and with the support of our fans once again, we can 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 on the pitch to try to help my teammates,” Luciano told ESPN.

With the draw, São Paulo made it 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 Uruguay’s Boston River, again at home.

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