The coach of the Brazilian National Team, Arthur Elias, held a press conference after the 5-1 victory over Argentina in the Copa Ouro quarterfinals early on Sunday (3). With the result, Brazil secured a spot in the semifinals. The coach spoke about the preparation, tests, and the team’s strategies to achieve victories.
“Undoubtedly, it was the best game we played, but we want more. We are here in the competition to assess players and also to evolve in the game model, in ideas. We want the team to create plenty of opportunities, for that to be a constant throughout the entire game, in set pieces, in offensive actions, how well the athletes are understanding the dynamics,” he said.
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“We had strong pressure until the last ball, and we were rewarded with a goal in this way. The team deserves congratulations, but they know that we expect to go far. For that, we still need to keep evolving at every moment of this competition,” he added.
The opponent for the team in the semis will be determined on Sunday in the match between Mexico and Paraguay. Brazil remains undefeated in the Copa Ouro. The victory against Argentina was the team’s fourth in the competition.
In the group stage, they secured first place in Group B and second place overall, trailing only behind Canada. The position on the competition table was part of the Brazilian team’s plan to enhance preparation for the semifinals, as they will now have an extra day of rest.
“We knew that finishing among the top two would be good because we would have an extra day of recovery starting from the semifinals. That was our goal in the group stage: to qualify among the top two campaigns, and our team achieved that,” he recalled.
Rotation
With almost all players starting as first-teamers in their matches, Arthur emphasized the change in systems and player rotation during the competition.
“It’s what I have been doing in every game, applying what I believe in: making substitutions to provide opportunities to all players, aiming to maintain the quality and intensity of our game,” he explained.
“I need to make use of substitutions. They need to understand that we don’t have starters. This, for those who have been following my work for a long time, whether in clubs or now in the national team, shows that it’s happening on all FIFA dates. I did this because I am convinced it is the best for our evolution process from here,” he concluded.
