The coach prepares for the Taça de Portugal

This Saturday, Sporting Clube de Portugal kick off their Taça de Portugal campaign against CD Olivais e Moscavide. The third round game takes place at the Estádio José Gomes in Amadora, and coach Rúben Amorim is not overlooking the opponents from the 1.ª District League.

In his pre-match press conference, he revealed that Jeremiah St. Juste and Francisco Trincão “are fit, have been called up and will be able to play", and confirmed that only Hidemasa Morita, who suffered a knock while on international duty, and the suspended Ousmane Diomande are unavailable.

“We are going to field a team that, clearly, could play in the top flight. We just want to win the game, there is no plan for any type of rotation to look at this player or that player. Obviously we have taken into account the opposition and the fact that we have a game on Thursday and then on Monday. We will have a tight schedule and everyone will be used, but tomorrow when you look at the starting XI you will see that this team could play in the championship. It’s going to be a team set up to win, as always".

In recent seasons, Sporting CP have been eliminated early from the competition, and the coach obviously does not want this to happen again.

“We have already fallen by the wayside against teams from lower divisions, we have to remember that and CD Olivais e Moscavide are even further below us in terms of the division they play in. We want to win the race, but we’re going to go step-by-step”.

“CD Olivais e Moscavide have nothing to lose and will be very motivated. Our players also have to be motivated, because they know they have a coach who, if they make things easier for the opponents in one game, may not play in the next one. We have a job to do and the desire has to be there. They are fighting for their places in the team, especially this year, and they can't make it easier to be left out. The Taça de Portugal is a trophy that we haven't won yet, and that we want to win".

“Winning a cup is an important moment in the players’ careers. Maybe it's the most special day, apart from when we win the league title. The day of the Taça de Portugal final is something that all players want to experience and I would be lying if I said that we don't want to make a clean sweep of the domestic trophies. Hence, everyone is called up. Even against a district team, we will present the best team to win".