Roger praises draw at altitude, justifies second-string side in Colombia | OneFootball

Coach Roger Machado sought to highlight the draw earned by São Paulo against Millionarios in the match between the two teams on Tuesday night (28). In addition to maintaining the lead in Group C, the coach emphasized the difficulties faced, such as the altitude in Colombia.

“But already in the second half, with the lack of oxygen at altitude, you end up making poorer decisions. Still, I think that whenever we get points in this kind of altitude context, we always have to celebrate,” he said.

“I think we had a good first half with two forwards up front, André and Tapia, to try to get in behind the opponent’s line. Tapia moved all over the pitch and gave himself fully for the team. In the second half, when the opponent had more control of the ball, started switching play and sending crosses in, I put on two quick wingers so we could try to counterattack and press the first phase of their build-up with wide players in a 5-4-1. We lacked sharper coordination and better decision-making,” he added.

The Tricolor boss tried to explain the reasons why he chose to field a mixed lineup for the match and the options for putting together the starting team.

“I wasn’t experimenting only with our team’s development in mind. I adapted to what we were going to face in a high-altitude environment, in the atmosphere of a South American competition stadium. I knew the opponent would rely heavily on aerial balls—they are the team that crosses the most in the Colombian Championship—and on switching play,” he said.

“When I was a player, I didn’t like it when the physiology department told me it was only psychological. There is obviously a physical effect. There is a reduced ability to sustain yourself physically in the match. But I deal with it with the proper concern, without overemphasizing it, because I need the player to feel comfortable on the pitch, and they are in good condition. From the 30th minute onward, you can see the suffering on the players’ faces because of how much they gave themselves at an altitude of 2,600 meters. But I think we managed, in an organized way, to minimize the effects of the altitude,” he pointed out.

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