Abel Ferreira on Vitor Roque’s Brazil call-up: ‘Keep up the good work’

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·16 de outubro de 2025

Abel Ferreira on Vitor Roque’s Brazil call-up: ‘Keep up the good work’

Palmeiras defeated Red Bull Bragantino 5-1 this Wednesday (15th) at Allianz Parque, and remains the isolated leader of the Brazilian Championship. After the match, coach Abel Ferreira spoke to the press and highlighted the ninth consecutive home win in this edition of the Brazilian Championship, after a start to the competition with some ups and downs at home.

We know where we are and where we want to go. I understand all the urgency. There is a lot of work and preparation, meetings to know which players would leave, arrive. This is the dynamic of a club like Palmeiras, we have these processes.

Abel also highlighted and praised the players who represented their national teams during this FIFA window and were with the team in today's match. Facundo Torres, Emiliano Martinez, Flaco López, and Anibal Moreno started on the bench—the last three came on in the second half. Gustavo Gómez was the only absence from the team.

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We have our club and our president who does everything to make sure the club lacks nothing. Leila is always looking for players, last time we brought in Rios and Gómez. And when you see their desire to belong and feel that, there is no fatigue. Everyone showed spectacular commitment.

Vitor Roque also returned to play after suspension. Scorer of two goals, he was suspended against Juventude after receiving his third yellow card against São Paulo. The Portuguese coach spoke about the number 9’s chance with the Brazilian National Team.

Less is more. We all do our job, I try to do my best and so does he. He is one of the young players and if the National Team thinks he should be called up, that's fine. We need to continue this work, to keep scoring goals, he is a youngster who comes from a batch with Endrick, Estevao, Vitor Reis, it’s a generation that I launched and coached.

When asked about Flaco López, who made his debut for the Argentine National Team during this FIFA window, Abel said that he was not only a teacher for the Argentine, but that he plays this role for the younger athletes—and mentioned some players, including from Red Bull Bragantino, who were on the field.

I was a teacher for Flaco, Estevao, Anibal, Jhon Jhon, that's my role. The players who are with me and learn nothing from me, neither tactically nor technically... that's my function. I am very happy when they move on.

He also looked ahead to the match against Flamengo, recalling the team's ups and downs throughout the season.

I've been here for five years. I don’t know any team that maintains stability throughout the entire year. What will define your team are the difficult moments. Winning and losing is part of it, there are still two months left, a lot of games to go, it’s about dealing with balance. It’s 24 hours, tomorrow we’re already preparing. Palmeiras hasn’t won there in ten years and we’re going to prepare for this game.

With the win, Palmeiras moves to 61 points. The team remains in the lead, followed by Flamengo with 58—both with the same 27 matches played. The teams will face each other at Maracanã next Sunday (18th), at 4pm (Brasília time).