Vojvoda hails Santos’ spirit in draw, praises debutants’ commitment | OneFootball

Juan Pablo Vojvoda was satisfied with Santos' performance this Sunday after the 1-1 draw with Atlético-MG, at Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte, for the 23rd round of the Brazilian Championship.

Santos, superior to Atlético-MG in the first half, went to seek the draw even with one less man on the field for almost the entire second half after Zé Ivaldo's expulsion, something that was valued by the Argentine coach at the final whistle.

“Santos played adapting to the condition of the game, to the field, and, mainly, we handled Atlético's pressure well. We knew we would have an opponent who likes ball possession, but I think we played most of the first half in the opponent's field, we created clear goal situations. I asked at halftime for the players to continue this way, it was likely that we would win the three points, but the expulsion was correct, it complicated us, then Brazão's injury, there were many things in the game that we don't plan during training", commented Vojvoda.

Right at the beginning of the second half, Zé Ivaldo ended up receiving the second yellow card after a foul on Hulk and, consequently, was expelled. Minutes later, Brazão was hit in the head, received medical attention, tried to return to the game, but after some time, he fell to the ground and left the field in an ambulance.

However, even with the adversities throughout the second half, Santos was resilient and ended up managing to seek the precious draw that guaranteed at least one more point to the team in the fight against relegation.

“We plan other things, but what we planned was what we did in the first half. I stick with the team's spirit in the second half and with the game we played in the first half. Under the circumstances, a point away from home needs to be valued. But we have to do better in the next match”, completed the Santos coach.

This Sunday, Vojvoda promoted the debuts of striker Lautaro Díaz and midfielder Victor Hugo. Even with little time at home and still getting to know their new teammates, the duo was approved by the Santos coach.

“I liked it, they were players with a lot of commitment from the tactical part to the attitude, physical part. Victor Hugo and Lautaro I already knew, they are players that, playing away from home, we needed them”, he concluded.

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