Arthur Chaves, player of Acadêmicos de Viseu, from Portugal, managed to win a place in the Brazilian National Team at the last Pan-American Games where he was a key player in winning Gold, in November last year. Chaves managed to convince coach Ramón Menezes with solid performances, guaranteeing his place in this Pre-Olympic.
The athlete considers himself a defender whose main characteristic is speed. Also a good defender in the air. Arthur has been in Europe for just over a season (he arrived in 2022), but is already considered one of the jewels of the Portuguese championship. Now focused on the Pre-Olympic Tournament, in Venezuela, Arthur evaluates the confrontation against Brazil’s next opponent in the competition, Colombia.
“We know that Colombia is a very strong team, we faced them in the Pan American Games and it was a very difficult game, very difficult indeed. So we expect another difficult duel in this Pre-Olympic trajectory”, said Arthur who, alongside his defender partner, Michel, ensured a solid performance from the Brazilian defense in the 1-0 victory against Bolivia. The Brazilian team did not suffer any shot by the Bolivians that went towards the Brazilian goal.
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Chaves credits the good performance to the information about the opponent previously received by the technical committee.
“We already knew that one of Bolivia’s strong points was shooting from outside the box. That’s what they tried to do most against us. So, we try to block these shots as much as possible”, he highlighted.
The Pre-Olympic Team faces Colombia this Friday (26th) at 8pm (Brasília time) at the Brígido Iriarte Stadium, in Caracas. The Colombian team is coming off a defeat in the competition; 3-0 for Ecuador. Given this, Arthur believes that the Colombians will go all or nothing and will fight hard for their first victory in the tournament, which will make the match a big decision.
“Here every game is important, every point is important. We know that they come to seek victory, just like us. So, we will prepare very well to try to nullify their strengths and do our best to achieve this victory”, he concluded.
The Brazilian team occupies second place in the table with three points. Ecuador is first, with four points. Venezuela comes in third with two, Bolivia in fourth with one and Colombia did not score.
