Luís Tralhão: “We know it’ll be extremely hard to stop FC Porto” | OneFootball

Luís Tralhão acknowledged FC Porto’s status as favorites in the Super Cup, but stressed that Torreense know their opponent well and remain fully confident in their own way of playing. The coach also emphasized that concentration and courage will be essential if the team are to fight for the trophy.

Knowing the opponent does not reassure Torreense

«Obviously, FC Porto have not changed many players, for now. The expected starting eleven will be very similar to the one they ended the season with. André Silva could, of course, come in, as he has played several matches in that position, but it is not certain that he will start. That gives me absolutely no comfort at all. Knowing what they do is important, but just as all the Primeira Liga teams knew it and still had a lot of difficulties against them in every game, we also know it will be extremely difficult to stop them. We are talking about a world-class team that will compete in the Champions League. Regardless of knowing what they do, we believe very strongly in what we do. We know their dynamics, we know their strengths and the aspects we can exploit. That is how we are going to prepare for the match.»

Maximum focus at every moment

«I would say this game will be decided by the details, but for us, the details are every little thing, big and small. Everything will be important: the team’s organization when we are defending, the way we attack, positioning, and the ability to quickly understand whether we can break forward more quickly or whether we have to keep the ball. In a match where the two sides are not equal in strength, I have no illusion of saying that we are at the same level as FC Porto. That would be completely unreasonable on my part. If I had to highlight one detail, it would be concentration throughout the entire match. When we play against teams of this level, especially in a game that decides a trophy, concentration at every moment is decisive. I think that was one of the factors that allowed us to win the Portuguese Cup: staying calm and composed throughout the whole game and not reacting too emotionally to what happens.»

The dream of repeating an unprecedented achievement

«Why not? No team from the Second League had ever won the Portuguese Cup, and we believed it could happen. I am not saying we had tremendous faith that it would happen, but we knew it was possible, within what we stand for in our game and in our idea of how to play. We have a lot of confidence in what we can do. We can cause problems for any team and, on any given day, in a single match, anything can happen. That is what happened against Sporting. We are here because that moment happened, but also because of everything we did throughout the Portuguese Cup. Against FC Porto, we believe we can make history again, and the players know that.»

A challenge with greater media attention

«Playing against FC Porto at this stage will probably mean facing the theoretically strongest opponent we will meet during the season. But when we think about things and do our work, deep down it is a game like any other. It may sound simplistic, but my job ends up being the same: preparing this match against FC Porto or preparing any other Second League match. The difference is the media attention. There is one factor that helps us a lot: the players are highly motivated for this game. When players are motivated and focused, it is always easier for us as coaches to get the message across.»

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