The coach speaks on the eve of the trip to CD Santa Clara

Sporting Clube de Portugal play this Saturday, at 6pm in the Azores, against CD Santa Clara.

In the pre-match press conference for the Liga Portugal Matchday 29 game, coach Rui Borges highlighted Sporting CP's desire to win the title for a second consecutive season and confirmed that Pedro Gonçalves could play.

Condolences for the passing of Aurelio Pereira
“First of all, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Aurélio, who was a very important person not only at Sporting CP, but in Portuguese football. He paved the way in terms of scouting, for finding and developing several great players.”

CD Santa Clara
“It will be a difficult game, on a difficult pitch, against a team who are having a great season, who are very competitive, very well organised, and one of the teams that allow the fewest shots to the opposition. They are very strong and very aggressive in transition, and the team that commits the most fouls in the division. This shows how competitive CD Santa Clara are in this sense. They have very strong players, especially in the final third, where they can create imbalances at any moment. Therefore, we have to be prepared, and be aware that we have to be very competitive to face this team. Then, of course, we have to continue to be how we have been: A Sporting CP with calmness, ability, individual quality and, at times, collective quality, to be better than CD Santa Clara.”

Conrad Harder
“For me, it’s a non-issue. I could have used other words to say what I wanted to say about him, but it was never in a critical tone. It was in the course of the questions in which I was just justifying, at that moment, why he came on as a winger, which is not his position. At that moment we needed players who could keep the ball, calm the game down more, and he is a player who is more of a transitional player, with intensity and speed. My words were never in a critical tone, even though I could have used other words. His reaction was good, normal, and he's been training happily. I had a conversation with him, but he knows his coach well, he knows what the coach thinks and wants from him, and I have affection for him and for everyone else.

Losing the top spot
“I'm a highly motivated coach and very confident about the final stretch of the season. In three and a half months, this was the first time we had lost the lead, so I would never think otherwise. I'm very optimistic and confident about the future and the team as well. We are in the fight for the title and it is down to us alone.”

The second half against SC Braga
“SC Braga had one shot on target in the second half, which was for their goal, and in the first half they had another. Possession is very subjective. I think we are the team with the second most possession in the league, and in the Rui Borges era the average is around 53/54%. We are the team that have the most shots on target, allow the fewest shots from the opposition, are the most efficient in passing, and are the second or third team in terms of the most defensive actions in the attacking midfield. I think that reflects the breakdowns in the second half.”

Players that give him comfort
“All of the Sporting CP players give me comfort. As I said, they have been fantastic in terms of their behaviour and commitment, and they were the same against SC Braga. We were much better in the first half, putting a lot of pressure on them, but it’s normal that we didn’t have 90 minutes with that intensity, especially since we were coming off a Taça de Portugal semifinal where several players played the full 90 minutes. Regarding our finishing, we need to get more shots on target and score more goals. We’ve had a lot of shots and we did in the last game too, but that’s part of it. I tell the players to make a lot of mistakes; they do that, and I take the blame for all of my players’ mistakes, whether they are defensively or offensively.

Pedro Goncalves and Hidemasa Morita
“Pote has been called up for the squad, but we will see to what extent he can contribute to the team and for how long. He has been out for a long time and will have to be managed well by everyone. (...) Morita has not been included.”

Retaining the title
“My goal is to be national champions. (...) After everything we have been through, as I have said, the players have responded fantastically. There is nothing to criticise them for. They are well aware of the goal and are committed to the objective, which is to be two-time champions. (...) We have been under pressure since the first matchday. We have lost first place, but it is still down to ourselves and we will be completely focused until the end.”