Cuca hails Flamengo star, backs him for national team | OneFootball

Atlético-MG Coach Cuca Praises Flamengo Coach Filipe Luís

Flamengo performed better in both matches against Atlético-MG in the Copa do Brasil, however, the team from Minas Gerais advanced on penalties and continues in the competition. After the qualification, the coach of the Belo Horizonte team, Cuca, praised coach Filipe Luís. The experienced coach even projected a future in the Brazilian National Team for the former full-back and stated that the red-black is the “greatest promise”.

“It is very difficult to play against Flamengo. They have a very well-defined game plan. Flamengo currently has a young coach who, without a doubt, is the greatest promise we have in Brazilian football,” said Cuca, in a press conference at Arena MRV.

— If people have calm and patience with him, we know that the path for him will be the Brazilian National Team, because he is a scholar, he prepares himself, he is increasingly wanting to improve and brings a lot of difficulty for us. We leave today very happy to have beaten such a strong opponent —, he added.

WHAT DID FLAMENGO LACK TO ELIMINATE ATLÉTICO-MG?

In the round of 16 matches of the Copa do Brasil, Flamengo had more ball possession. At Maracanã, the Red-Black reached 66% and shot 21 times (against 13 from the opponent). At Arena MRV, Filipe Luís's team had the ball 53% of the time and shot 16 times (18 from Atlético-MG).

However, due to an individual mistake in the first game, Atlético-MG won 1-0. In the return match, Flamengo returned the result with the same score but lost on penalties. Thus, Filipe Luís experiences his second elimination in his professional coaching career, after being knocked out by Bayern Munich (GER) in the Club World Cup.

WHAT ARE FLAMENGO'S NEXT GAMES?

After the Copa do Brasil, Flamengo focuses on the Brasileirão and the Libertadores. On Saturday (09), Mengão faces Mirassol, starting at 6:30 PM (Brasília time), for the 19th round. Subsequently, on Wednesday (13), the opponent will be Internacional, in the continental tournament. Both matches will be at Maracanã.

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