Angelina: “We’d missed playing in Brazil” | OneFootball

Midfielder Angelina celebrated the opportunity to play in Brazil again with the Brazilian National Team, which begins its FIFA Series campaign this Saturday (11) at Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá. In a press conference held on Friday afternoon (10), she highlighted the importance of playing “at home” one year before the Women’s World Cup in the country.

“We had missed playing in Brazil. It’s always a different feeling to be close to our fans, and it’s really nice to see some of the girls who are from here have the chance to play where they grew up, with family nearby. It’s a huge pleasure to bring the fans closer one year before the World Cup. We’re very happy to be in Brazil and play the FIFA Series with our fans. You can see in the girls’ energy that we’re getting closer and closer to the World Cup.”

The FIFA Series matches will be the Seleção’s first in the country since the friendlies preparing for the 2025 Copa América, when Brazil beat Japan twice (3-1 and 2-1) in matches played in Bragança Paulista and São Paulo.

Angelina before training with the Brazilian Women’s National Team at Cuiabá’s training center Credits: Livia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

At next year’s World Cup, Cuiabá is not among the eight selected host cities. Even so, the 26-year-old player stressed the value of the Seleção playing in different places to bring fans closer to the team.

“It’s very important to have these matches in Brazil. There’s a little over a year left until our World Cup arrives. And having this closeness with the fans, bringing some attention to the event that will take place in Brazil, which is historic in itself. Even though Cuiabá is not a World Cup host city, holding matches in different places draws the public’s attention so that, even if it’s on TV, they can watch and follow this historic event that it will be.”

Angelina during training with the Brazilian Women’s National Team at Cuiabá’s training center, on the eve of the FIFA Series openerCredits: Livia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

Brazil makes its debut tomorrow!

Brazil will open its FIFA Series campaign against South Korea at 9:30 p.m. local time, with live coverage on TV Globo, SporTV, and GE TV. According to the Orlando Pride player from the United States, the Seleção’s focus will be to “break down” South Korea’s compact defense and stop the opponent’s counterattacks.

“Training has been very productive, and we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on our style of play so we can keep refining and improving it. The match against South Korea is going to be very difficult because they are a team that is very well organized defensively. From the matches we analyzed, they played in a low block, and it’s very hard to break through a very compact defense. We’re working on strategies to overcome their defense.”

Angelina during training with the Brazilian Women’s National Team at Cuiabá’s training center, on the eve of the FIFA Series openerCredits: Livia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

In addition to South Korea, Brazil will face Zambia on Tuesday (14) and Canada on Saturday (18). With the chance to face three different footballing styles, Angelina said the Seleção’s goal should be to keep developing its game model, regardless of the opponent.

“It really is a very important FIFA window because we’re playing against three national teams with very different styles of play. I think the most important thing for us is to focus on and improve our game model, because we play in a way that is quite different from all the other national teams. I believe that’s the key point. Regardless of what the opponent does, we’re not going to change our style of play.”

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