Coach Ramon Menezes praised the dedication of the Brazilian team’s athletes, who guaranteed qualification for the final of the Pan American Games on Wednesday night (1). At the Sausalito Stadium, in Viña del Mar, the team beat Mexico 1-0, in a match marked by collective overcoming.
Before the game, Amarelinha suffered the absence of Matheus Dias and Matheus Nascimento, absences due to a muscle injury and a migraine, respectively. As a result, only three outfield players were able to take the field, in addition to the two reserve goalkeepers.
“I have to praise the work of these players, they were fantastic. Because today we saw it without two players on the bench. This makes it very difficult in terms of game strategy, changes. So, there was a lot of wear and tear and they bore all this load of the game,” he said.
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The Seleção opened the scoring at the beginning of the first half, with Leone’s own goal, after a beautiful individual play by Marquinhos. Once ahead of the scoreboard, Mexico grew in the match and imposed difficulties on the Brazilian team, which defended itself from the attacks thanks to its defense, which has not yet been leaked in the competition, and the great performance of goalkeeper Mycael.
“We started the game very well. Right at the beginning, with less than two minutes, we managed to score the goal. Then, Mexico pushed us back. But our defensive part is very good in this competition, we didn’t concede any goal in the competition. That’s very good too, it gives a lot of confidence”, he highlighted.
Amarelinha takes the field at 8pm next Saturday against Chile, at the Sausalito Stadium, in Viña del Mar (CHI), in the Pan-American final. The achievement would represent the breaking of a 36-year fast without a gold medal, which last came in the 1987 edition. For Ramon, South American Under-20 champion in February this year, the title would be the coach’s second for the Brazilian National Team.
“We are reaching a very strong final, always believing. Since the day of the presentation at Granja, we believed that we could make this final. Now it’s time to rest, Chile is a great opponent. I already had the opportunity to see the Chile against the Dominican Republic. It will be a different game atmosphere. With a full house, with the fans pushing. But we are very prepared”, he reinforced.
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