Miguel Coelho: “The passion people have for FC Porto wins titles” | OneFootball

FC Porto beat Benfica 3-1 in the decisive match of the volleyball league semi-finals, and Miguel Coelho highlighted “the mentality”, “the character and personality” of a group that knocked out “a great team, the reigning National Champion” and secured a place in the final. In the aftermath of the clássico, the blue-and-white coach also had a word of thanks for the 1,653 Porto fans who filled the stands at Dragão Arena: “The fans’ support was crucial. This passion people have for FC Porto wins points and titles.”

Home advantage“The fans’ support was crucial. We cannot complain about a lack of support at our matches. That is not why we lost. If there is one thing we cannot complain about, it is a lack of support. Porto fans are incredible, and being down here is a huge privilege and a different feeling. This passion people have for FC Porto wins points and wins titles, as happened two years ago.”

The semi-finals“We are playing against a great team, the reigning National Champion, which, although it has had ups and downs this year, still had a good Champions League run and even beat a team that is in the final. This was our first step. A lot is said about FC Porto and this team’s budget, but I have never seen a 20-euro note score points. An image has been built that FC Porto are an untouchable team because they invested 300 million euros in the squad, but that is a lie. We, Benfica, and SC Braga, who are our next opponents, all have the budget to fight for the title. This narrative cannot be built around the team and then demand that FC Porto beat everyone 3-0. We have the budget we have, but we also have a lot of character in this team, and that was clear in the five matches of this play-off, as well as in the regular season and in the cup final.”

Analysis of the opponent“We have to fight hard as a team. Today, a great team won. I value very highly the work Benfica did in this play-off, but we deserved to win because we were ahead in all five matches. It is true that we lost the last two at home, and that cost us dearly, but this group did not deserve to miss out on this final because of the character and personality it has. There were several times when we felt we were not efficient enough, especially in the home matches, but Benfica have quality and can compete even without some players, which proves their squad is very deep and that they did a great job. A great team was knocked out, but a great team reached the final, and it is a more than fair outcome. These players’ mentality has to be highlighted, because it is extraordinary.”

The final against SC Braga“People say FC Porto do not rotate the team and that the players are tired, but I wish training sessions were open so people could see how these players show up to train the day after losing 3-2. When I arrived at FC Porto, I came to watch a handball match against Sporting and Fernando Santos told me that I would come to understand that at this Club we have to fight against everything and everyone. I never liked that cliché, but in fact there are clever people who pick up on these topics and help us realise that it is true. Volleyball is not a fatigue sport, unlike football, handball, basketball and hockey, where the cardio demands take athletes to another type of fatigue that often does not allow them to train the next day. In volleyball, you do not lose or win because of fatigue. That is a myth many people believe in, but it was not created by anyone at FC Porto. We had a five-match semi-final and SC Braga only played three and played extremely well. For me, there is no better way to prepare the team than through competition. Now we have two days to prepare everyone and, on Sunday, I can guarantee that everyone will be fresh, proud and full of belief in their ability. Nothing can beat a team like that.”

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